Young Defenders: Universe's Greatest Kids
by THEEVILDOER
Summary: What happens when the world is threatened by various beings of all races? The answer is that heroes are born. But they are not always adults or teenagers, sometimes they're just children. This is the story of a group of extraordinary kids are gathered in a strange team. Crossover of many series, but starts with just two.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue.- Saving the world is actually child's play.**

* * *

"Who are we?  
Well, to be honest, we're all a bunch of friends who spend their time going to school, doing homework and staying inside a rather spacious treehouse playing videogames and challenging each other to see who's the best.  
But since we're not normal kids, our free time is also ocupied by a rather unusual hobbie.  
We save the world from menaces like genocidal maniacs, alien invaders, evil overlords and the infamous Destroyers.  
It's a difficult task and sometimes very exhausting, but I can't deny that it's tons of fun, even if our parents think we should stop taking such risks because we haven't even reached puberty, or at least most of us haven't.  
However, if we didn't take those risks, none of us would be alive now, because our parents and legal guardians may be good but they would stand no chance against the threats we face.  
Anyway, you should be wondering what kind of kids would face threats that could very well destroy half of the galaxy. Well, the answer is easy, we like to call ourselves the Young Defenders.  
A cyborg, a robot, two humans with impressive devices, three altered humans, three humans with different abilities, three aliens, three anthros, and then there's me... Well, that's actually just the first team, we're actually around forty members.  
We're friends now but we hard quite the rocky start, and by rocky I mean that none of us could stand each other in the slightest, to the point in which we even tried to kill the others... And I'm dead serious on that statement.  
My name is Jack Skellington, leader and founding member of the team that gathers the universe's greatest heroes, and this is the tale of how we met, how we were forced to get along, how we became friends, how we became legends.  
By the way, what do you think? Is this a cool start or what? I've tried to write this first entry to the blog at least fifty times, but none of them sounded epic enough, and I think I finally got the hang of it."

* * *

 _"Oh, trust me, these kids are much more of a threat than you think."_  
 _~The Messiah, in "New Defenders: The Next Greatest Heroes."_

 _THEEVILDOER Industries present:  
_ _YOUNG DEFENDERS: UNIVERSE'S GREATEST KIDS._


	2. Chapter 2

**_Arc 1.- Who the heck are you guys?_  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 1.- Missions.**

* * *

 _(October 31st, 1990 [Local calendar] - 1000 Hours [Local calendar] - Jack Skellington's mission clock - Location: Skellington Manor, Halloween Town, Holiday Worlds, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

It was a rather occupied morning for the inhabitants of Halloween Town, as they had to prepare the holiday festival that gave their town its name, but if the citizens were busy, their king and his family were even busier.  
Right now, in the Skellington Manor, a tall skeleton who wore a black vest, white shirt and black pants was pacing in front of his wife, an undead woman with grey skin and wearing a dark blue dress, and his son, a twelve year old skeleton who wore black jeans, black and blue tennis shoes and a black t-shirt with long sleeves, while he smiled proudly at them, as this was the first time that his son would actually participate actively in the festival, regardless of the child's denial to participate.  
\- But dad! I have no idea of how to be scary! - The young skeleton snapped at his father.  
\- Nonsense, Jack. - The older skeleton said dismissively. - You know how to do that, every Skellington does, it runs in our veins!  
\- We have no veins, dad...  
\- Oh, well, you get the point.  
\- I think you should teach him a bit more, Kasius. - The undead woman said.  
\- We have no time, dearest, tonight is Halloween and we have to make this night the scariest till the date!  
\- You do realize that I've failed on each and every attempt, right? - Jack said.  
\- I do, but I have a feeling about tonight, you'll be able to make it.  
\- No, I'm gonna fail again... Like always...  
\- Don't be so pessimistic, Jack. - Said the child's mother.  
\- I'm realistic...  
\- Never mind, go get ready for tonight, your suit is...  
\- I'm totally not gonna wear that suit! It's too tight and it itches! Plus, I hate pinstriped designs...  
\- Then just go practice what you're gonna do, Jack. And don't forget that we'll start at 7 pm.  
\- But I promised Sally that I'd go trick-or-treating with her before the song!  
Kasius sighed and knelt down to meet his son's gaze.  
\- Jack, you're the Pumpkin Prince, you have responsibilities, you will have to put Halloween before anything else, at least until you form your own family. - Kasius said.  
\- But Sally is my best friend...  
\- I know she is, but planning Halloween is more important than friendship.  
\- It shouldn't be... - Jack grumbled.  
\- Maybe not to a certain level, but it should be one of your highest priorities.  
\- I won't let it consume my life and keep me from playing with my friend.  
\- Well, then try to do it well...  
\- I try! But it's not easy...  
\- I don't know why you say that, you did that many years ago.  
\- Creating Nightmare Night was much easier than making Halloween... At least had help from others...  
\- Just focus son, you can do it, I trust you.  
With that said, Kasius hugged his son and then smiled with pride.  
\- I know you'll make it, it's in your blood. - Said Kasius - But... - Jack tried to say.  
\- I said it figuratively, son.

* * *

 _(October 31st, 2525 [Military calendar] - 1400 Hours [Standard military time] - Mission clock of John-117, Kelly-087, Samuel-34, Frederic-104 and Linda-058 - Location: Aboard the UNSC Orbital Defense Platform "Cairo," high orbit above the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

In the orbit of the Earth, a group of SPARTANS-II was walking towards the bridge of the Cairo station, receiving multiple looks from the Marines and soldiers around them, probably due to the multiple scars on their faces, which had been the result of the brutal augmentation process that they had endured several months ago. Or maybe it was the fact that they were just as tall as anyone twice their age.  
Whatever was the case, the young soldiers marched in silence, ignoring the puzzled looks they received. When the Spartans reached the bridge, they quickly went to the commanding officer, who was a man who appeared to be at least fifty years old, who had brown hair with some gray hairs, who wore a Vice Admiral badge in the chest.  
\- Vice Admiral Hood. - John said.  
\- It's good to know that you could come so soon, Blue Team. - Hood said. - I guess Halsey and Mendez told you that you'll have a recon and research mission.  
\- That's right, sir. - Kelly answered.  
\- Alright. A few days ago, officers of an outpost on Mars sent certain information to me. They described an abnormality was detected near the orbit of Mars, and later a projectile was detected impacting the surface of the Earth.  
Hood used one of the bridge screens and projected the image of a map of America, setting a point in the United States, in Death Valley to be exact.  
\- Your mission is to investigate what impacted on Earth and, if possible, and bring it back to the station. - Hood explained. - Go to the armory to get geared up and please report at hangar four, bay one, there'll be a Pelican waiting you there.  
\- Roger that, sir. - John said as he saluted his superior.  
\- You're dismissed, Spartans.  
The Spartans nodded and went to the armory, still receiving looks from their fellow soldiers.  
And although the mission sounded easy and simple, they had no idea that everything would be much more complicated than they thought.

* * *

 _(Ninth Age of Reclamation [Covenant calendar] - 1000 Hours [Local time] - Thel 'Vadamee's mission clock - Location: Unknown point of Death Valley, United States of America, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

In a standstill and forgotten Death Valley, a tall young alien with reptilian appearance, four jaws and a blue armor, was stepping our of some kind of pod, looking around and noticing that there was no trace of any civilization. Satisfied with the secrecy of his actions, the Sangheili took a circular object from his waist and activated it, projecting a hologram of a Sangheili that was much bigger than him, with an impressive armor.  
\- "Arbiter, I have arrived to the home world of the humans." - Said the Sangheili in his language.  
\- "Well done, young 'Vadamee, the Prophets have put their trust in you. Find the Tesseract and bring it to me in High Charity." - The hologram replied.  
\- "I understand, Arbiter."  
\- "And remember... If you dare to fail, you will lose more than your life..."  
\- "I have that very clear since I was entrusted with this mission, Arbiter."  
\- "I hope so, 'Vadamee..."  
The hologram disappeared and 'Vadamee put the device back into his belt, then he activated the camouflage of his armor and disappeared from view. Then the Sangheili headed north in search of a singularity that would take him to where the Tesseract was hidden.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2. Fiascos, failures and rifles.**

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2015 hours [Local time] - Jack Skellington's clock mission - Location: Graveyard, Halloween Town, Holiday Worlds, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

The Prince of Halloween was furious.  
Thanks to the stupid and unfounded confidence that his father had in him, he had been humiliated in front of the whole town. And all because he could not transform when his turn came.  
Now, to let off steam and try to forget the mocks he had received, Jack wandered aimlessly through the graveyard, cursing under his breath and grunting.  
\- Stupid town, stupid festival, stupid Halloween... - The young prince muttered. - Stupid father... this is all his fault...  
The skeleton roared in frustration and kicked a rock, which ended up hitting the tomb of his ghost dog, Zero, who came out from the ground when the stone hit his grave, with a smile that disappeared when she saw his master so upset.  
Zero floated towards Jack and let out a little bark to get his attention, then the prince forced a small smile to face his pet.  
\- Don't worry, Zero, I'll be fine... It's not the first nor the last time that I'll be ridiculed in public... - The young skeleton said. - Want to come with me to the Hinterlands? I could use some company, and the forest is really dark so your nose would be useful to light the way.  
Zero smiled and barked in agreement, then Jack and him went into the dead tree forest that everyone called the Hinterlands.  
And while Jack was looking for some peace and quiet to calm down, he could not even imagine what he was about to find instead.

* * *

 _(October 31, 2525 [Military calendar] - 2015 hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Thel 'Vadamee, John-117, Kelly-087, Samuel-034, Linda-058 and Frederic-104 - Location: Unknown point of Death Valley, United States of America, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

Thel 'Vadamee was traveling through the desert while holding some kind of holographic radar, which he was using as map. His plan was simple, according to the scans, the singularity that would take him to the place where the Tesseract was being hidden, was nearby.  
And he took several hours wandering the desert in the home planet of the humans, which hadn't been much of a problem for him, since Sanghelios had a very similar weather and geography, however, he was sick of staying so long in that world of heretics to the religion of the Covenant. The mere thought that there were six billion heretics in this simple and mundane rock, was more than enough for him to look forward to the time to hand over the Tesseract to the Arbiter and witness how the Holy Covenant Fleet eradicated all life in the planet that the humans called Earth.  
And while the alien was picturing the rewards that awaited him for his contribution to the Great Journey, a quintet of Spartans was following the few traces left by 'Vadamee, which had proved to be a difficult task, because the desert erased the tracks just as soon as they found them.  
They had believed that their mission wouldn't go beyond retrieving a lost device of the Stark Industries or any other technology company, but to their surprise, they had found some sort of orbital drop pod, similar to those of the ODSTs, and to make matters worse, the pod had the same color pattern and the same plating ships that had attacked Harvest not long ago.  
After they reported their find, Lord Hood had ordered an alert state throughout the solar system, as well as the immediate activation of the Cole Protocol in all civil and UNSC spaceships and stations. And the young Spartans were also ordered to capture the creature that had infiltrated Earth for questioning, as soon as possible.  
But despite their efforts, the creature had a long advantage, and the fact that Death Valley seemed unwilling to cooperate with them only served to make them feel more despair. Kelly, being the fastest Spartan, might have reached the target in just a couple of hours, but John didn't want her to face the creature by herself, not to mention that they could barely track the target working together.  
\- This is useless. - Sam blurted. - We won't catch that thing at this step.  
\- We won't know unless we try. - John snapped. - Also, look, the tracks seem more recent here, we should be close.  
\- How do you know that he's closer, Chief? - Asked Fred.  
\- The footsteps are deeper, that means the wind hasn't had enough time to alter them.  
\- Then let me get ahead, Chief. - Kelly blurted. - I can...  
\- We alredy discussed that, Kelly, none of us will face that thing alone.  
\- It's just an idea, moreover, it will save us some time.  
\- I will not take any chances, Kelly, don't insist. Now, step up, we must catch up with that thing.  
Kelly huffed in resignation and resisted her urges to outrun her squadmates, as they began to run, hoping to capture the invader before it could achieve its target.  
Back with 'Vadamee, the sangheili was near the singularity, so he was now running while he for the singularity with his radar and his sight. When he found a cave at the foot of a rock formation, 'Vadamee put his radar away and took his sword energy to light the dark, then he walked into the cave and looked around, trying to find the uniqueness, but without realize the Elites and reappeared shot through a forest of dead trees.  
The Sangheili smirked as he looked around, then turned off his sword and grabbed his holomap again to track the energy signature of the Tesseract.  
Meanwhile, back in the mortal world, the Spartans had spotted the invader entering the cave, so they had ran up to that cave to catch him, but when they reached it, their target was gone.  
Noticing that, Fred grunted in frustration and kicked a nearby rock, causing it to crash against a wall and break into several pieces. However, John knew that the alien was still out there, so he wasn't going to let it beat him without even fighting.  
\- Split up, Spartans. - John ordered firmly. - If you find it, report it through the com, do not engage unless absolutely necessary, and that goes for you, Kelly.  
\- Understood, Chief. - Kelly grumbled.  
John made a gesture with his hand and the Spartans prepared to take different routes, but after a few meters, Linda disappeared, leaving no trace other than the footprints of her boots.  
\- Linda! - Shouted Fred noticing the disappearance of their teammate.  
\- What the hell happened?! - Kelly asked with a tone of alarm.  
\- Linda, respond! - Sam said through his communicator.  
Just as John was to check the point where Linda had disappeared suddenly, the Spartan's head popped out of nowhere, showing a grin, which made Sam, Kelly and Fred gasp loudly.  
\- You guys have to see this. - Linda said. - C'mon! I also found traces of our target.  
Linda's head disappeared again in what seemed to be some kind of veil in reality, leaving her teammates confused for a couple of seconds, but they shrugged and walked through the gate, finding Linda in the middle of a gray forest of dead trees.  
Before John, Kelly, Sam or Fred could even think of a question, the best sniper showed them a group of strange footprints were heading deeper into the forest. John nodded and gestured the others to follow the trail, walking as fast as they could, without even imagining what would happen just a few moments later.

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local Calendar] - 2020 hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Jack Skellington, Thel 'Vadamee, John-117, Kelly-087, Samuel-034, Linda-058 and Frederic-104 - Location: Hinterlands, Holiday Worlds, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

Jack and his dog were walking through the woods, while the skeleton was looking at the floor. Several minutes had passed since the poor Pumpkin Prince's failure, Jack felt he could never forget the event and that he'd be known forever as the most harmless creature in the history of Halloween Town.  
And while the boy was still lamenting and feeling sorry for himself, Zero looked at him with concern. He could see and feel how upset Jack was, and although he had tried to comfort him, his efforts had been in vain.  
Meanwhile, a young sangheili warrior looked at his holomap, following the small line that indicated the direction that lead to the position of the Tesseract. However, just as he got closer to his target, the sangheili heard footsteps coming in his direction, from both his rear and front. Knowing he had few options for escape, the alien put his map away again and reactivated his camouflage. Meanwhile, the group of Spartans moved swiftly through the strange forest, looking for any sign that could reveal the direction their target had taken. However, the footprints had disappeared because the ground was too firm. Still, they had been guided by their incredibly good vision, which managed to detect details as minimal as moved rocks, broken branches and the behavior of the insects and bats flitting around.  
Suddenly John stopped short in his tracks and gestured at his teammates to do the same, then the former looked around and saw an intense orange light walking toward them. John ordered his Spartans to hide while doing the same, still watching what produced orange light.  
Back with Pumpkin Prince, he was staring at the floor while thinking of a way to clear his name and make everyone forget the embarrassing performance he had had. However, that was a daunting task, since it had been his first performance in Halloween, it was the first impression he had given to the town, and doing everything so shamefully, probably just an epic feat such as saving the entire town of an indescribable evil, would make everyone respect him again. On the other hand, the ghost dog was still watching his owner as he thought about how to comfort him, but suddenly, he managed to catch several essences that he had failed to recognize before, all of them unknown and very close to his owner. Consequently, Zero turned his head to the nearest essence and started barking and growling to draw the attention of his owner and whatever was stalking them.  
\- What's up, boy? - Jack asked his dog.  
Zero continued barking toward the stalker, who was none other than Thel 'Vadamee, still with his camouflage active. And though Jack could not see anything, he trusted blindly in his dog, so he put his hand under his shirt and grabbed some sort of mechanical handle as he moved closer to the invisible 'Vadamee.  
Meanwhile, the Spartans could not believe what they saw, and the surprise was so great that Kelly barely had time to cover Fred's mouth before he could scream and reveal their exact position, because it was more than obvious that the ghost dog had already discovered they were there. John was about to order the retreat, but just before that, he caught sight of his target, who turned visible again.  
On the other hand, the sangheili had tried to hide, but apparently an animal (which was called "dog" by the humans) had given away his position, and now had no choice but to eliminate the human and the dog before they could alert someone else of his presence on Earth, so he grabbed his energy sword and prepared to attack. However, just before that, his holomap began to beep, which made 'Vadamee gasp, because those beeps mean only one thing.  
The human who had discovered him had the Tesseract.  
Meanwhile, Jack was about to see who had been hiding from him and Zero, but just as he touched the tree, a deafening roar took him by surprise and he barely had time to duck and dodge the attack of some kind of blue sword, which was wielded by a creature with reptilian appeareance and four jaws. The blade of the sword pierced Zero and the tree, without damaging the ghostly canine but cutting the trunk as if it was paper. And despite his initial shock, the young prince gritted his teeth and activated the object he had taken from his torso, which proved to be some kind of lightsaber of an intense blue color. The creature and the skeleton clashed swords and struggled, trying to push the other, but they were very evenly matched.  
\- "Give me the Tesseract now and your demise will be quick and painless!" - 'Vadamee orderd in his native language.  
Jack couldn't understand what the child had said, but if he was right, he could hear his attacker had mentioned the Tesseract, which made him clench his teeth even more, as it was assumed that only the Holiday Worlds, Equestria and Asgard knew of its existence. The skeleton then assumed that the invader was an alien, and not a friendly one, so he had to stop him at all costs.  
While the alien and the prince fought, John decided to act, because despite not knowing the skeleton, he had the mission of capturing the invader and stop him from hurting innocents. And something told him that the skeleton dueling against the alien, was just a civilian.  
Less than five seconds was the time it took John to grab and unlock his assault rifle, run toward the swordsmen and fire a couple of rounds against the alien, which bounced off a blue barrier and almost hit Jack in the arm.  
Jack kicked the alien hard in the torso, making him drop his sword and making his invisible shield flash again, then he glared at the stupid human who had tried to shoot him and lunged at him, only for another human to appear behind the first and jump to kick him in the face, knocking him backwards. 'Vadamee seized that the skeleton was momentarily helpless, so he tried to stad his torso with his energy sword, but he was tackled hard by John. This act confused Kelly, Fred, Linda, Sam and Jack, as only a few moments ago, the prince had tried to attack the Spartan, and now the latter had protected him.  
\- What are you doing, human? - Jack asked.  
\- Following my mission! - John said as he struggled with the alien. - I'm not here to attack you but to capture him!  
\- "You can try, human, but you will not make it!" - The sangheili roared before kicking John in the abdomen.  
John flew several feet away before falling on the rifle in his back, while the other Spartans shot stun rounds at the alien, who took cover behind a tree. The rain of stun rounds stopped and the Elite took the opportunity to run to his sword, but Jack pressed on the attack with his own and forced him to back off.  
The alien dodged several slashes and grabbed Jack's arms to try to wrest the weapon to defend himself, however, despite his lack of muscles, the prince easily matched him in strength.  
\- Give up already! - Jack ordered as he struggled. - You are outnumbered and surrounded!  
\- Not a chance, earthling! - Growled the alien.  
Jack let out a yelp when he heard the alien speak their language, and to his misfortune, his opponent seized his momentary distraction to knee him in the abdomen and take his sword, but since they had free range, the four Spartans opened fire on the invader and got rid of his energy shields. 'Vadamee ran for cover while the humans reloaded their weapons, and while Jack rolled on the ground and hurried to take the alien's sword. The skeleton grabbed the metal handle and tried to ignite the sword, but he didn't know how.  
'Vadamee grunted and turned on Jack's sword to lunge at the skeleton, while he was trying to activate the blade of the Elite's sword.  
Just as the sangheili raised Jack's sword to attack him, the latter managed to activate 'Vadamee's sword and reacted quickly enough to stop the attack. Jack and 'Vadamee's swords collided several times, while he was trying to activate the blade of the sword of Elites.  
Just as the Sangheili raised his sword to attack Jack, he managed to activate the sword 'Vadamee and could react fast enough to stop their attack. Jack's sword and the 'Vadamee collided several times, creating sparks that flew every time the swords clashed. Meanwhile, John, Kelly, Fred, Sam and Linda took strategic positions around the combatants, and when they were ready, Kelly made a gesture Jack to move away from 'Vadamee.  
Jack nodded and managed to give a hard knee to his opponent in the abdomen, knocking him back as he moved away from the Elite. As the skeleton was out of the line of fire, the Spartans opened fire and got rid of 'Vadamee's shield, injuring him with their stun rounds.  
The alien tried to cover herself with Jack's sword, but since there were too many shots, 'Vadamee collapsed from the pain that the Spartans' rounds caused him, as he gasped and tried to stay conscious. But it was all in vain when the skeleton appeared at his side and knocked him out with a chop to the neck.  
The Spartans approached the alien as the prince recovered his sword, but only John had his rifle in his back, while the others were still aiming at 'Vadamee.  
\- Calm down, he's unconscious. - Jack said.  
The Spartans slowly lowered their weapons and looked at Jack, who admired the weapon he had taken from 'Vadamee, while the leader of the Spartans approached the alien to handcuff him.  
\- Thank you... - John said while he handcuffed 'Vadamee. - ... For your cooperation, although I still don't understand why. You could have escaped at least twelve times.  
\- It's true, why didn't you run? This was not your job. - Fred blurted out.  
\- Maybe not, but I think he mentioned something that my family protects, and there was no way on Earth I'd let him take it. - Jack explained.  
\- And what did he want? - Linda asked.  
\- The less you know, the better. By the way, what do the numbers in your breastplates mean?  
The Spartans shared a look of doubt, then Sam looked at Jack and said:  
\- It's classified.  
\- Did you say that because I didn't tell you what this guy probably wanted, or are you serious? - Jack asked.  
\- We're serious. - John said.  
\- All right. - Jack sighed. - Wait, how did you all get here? And by the way, you should leave soon, humans are not allowed to be in this world, my father does not tolerate them.  
\- We have no idea at a time when we were in a cave, and the next we were in this forest. - Linda said.  
\- Portals in the human world? That's not good... There aren't supposed to be any.  
\- Spartans, time to go. - John ordered. - I'll take the prisoner, you cover me. Kelly, call the Pelican when we are back in Death Valley.  
\- I better escort you out of here, I must also see where that portal and see what caused it.  
\- You can not come with us.  
\- I'm not giving you an option besides, I'm sure you can't find the portal, but I do. - The prince snapped before whistling.  
A couple of barks were heard, followed by a series of grunts.  
\- Zero, stop it, they're not enemies. - Jack ordered. - Can you follow the path that our guests took?  
Zero barked and nodded.  
\- Good, guide us.  
Zero floated to the ground and began sniffing while John put 'Vadamee over his shoulder. Then Jack and the Spartans followed the canine ghost.  
After several minutes of walking through the forest, Zero barked repeatedly at a point of nothingness, alerting them that the trail was lost. Jack walked up to the point and moved his hand, which crossed the portal. The prince moved his hand around while John put 'Vadamee on the ground, because despite being a Spartan, the alien was heavy. Then the prince turned and looked at Zero with a smile.  
\- Thank you, Zero. - Jack said as he ran a hand over your dog's head affectionately. - I think you've done a lot for today, you can go home to rest.  
Zero barked in gratitude and flew back to his master's home, while Jack looked at the portal again.  
\- So here's the portal... - Jack said. - Interesting... Where did you say the other end is?  
\- In Death Valley, in the United States. - Kelly said.  
\- I see... Well, I think here's where we split up, friends. You cross the portal and return to the human world, I'll find a way to close this thing.  
\- All right. - John nodded as he offered his hand to Jack. - Again, thanks for your help with everything.  
Jack looked at the Spartan and nodded as he smiled a little, then shook hands with John and the latter turned to his prisoner to pick him up, but he didn't see him, so his eyes went wide open.  
Before everyone knew what was happening, Kelly was picked up from the ground and thrown hard against John and Jack, who fell to the ground. Immediately afterwards, Fred and Linda tried to attack the alien who believed still unconscious, but 'Vadamee had been faster, so the Spartans couldn't hit their target and ended up hitting each other. After that, Sam tried to stop the alien but the latter quickly kicked him away and made him crash against a tree.  
Then the sangheili broke the handcuffs and tried to attack Jack, but a spear with a light tip grazed his hand, so he turned in the direction the spear had come and barely had time to evade other two. Immediately afterwards, 'Vadamee had no choice but to become invisible and go through the portal while thinking how he could get the Tesseract on another occasion.  
The Spartans and the prince tried to stop 'Vadamee, but they were quickly stopped by a group of ghosts. While the five young soldiers struggled to try to get free from the ghosts' that held them back, the Pumpkin King, Kasius Skellington, was walking towards them, glaring at the humans.  
\- Well... - Kasius said. - What have we here?  
\- Father, no! - Shouted Jack. - You don't get it! You gotta to let them go!  
\- So they can go and bring more humans to conquer us? I do not think so.  
\- They did not come to conquer!  
\- If that's true, why is the logo of the United Nations Space Command on the plates, armors and guns they're carrying?  
\- The logo of what?  
\- A human space organization dedicated to war... Although I did not think humans were petty enough to send children to fulfill their dirty work.  
\- They are children?  
\- From what I see, they are hardly a couple of years older than you, Jack. - Kasius said. - But that does not change anything, humans are forbidden to set foot in the Holiday Worlds, and for invading my kingdom, attack my son and cause damage to the Hinterlands, you are sentenced to die...  
At the time when Kasius said the word "die," Jack growled furiously and managed to escape from the grip of the ghost who stopped him, then he took his sword and the sword he had taken from 'Vadamee, he ignited them and threatened the monsters that were holding the Spartans, forcing them to back off and let go of the humans.  
Kasius put a hand on his sword as his son tightened his grip on his swords, both looking into each others' eye sockets with a disturbing anger. And around the two members of the royal family, everyone was staring at them with some nervousness, the ghosts because they knew what a Skellington was capable of, and the Spartans because they had no idea what Kasius could do.  
After several tense minutes, Kasius took his hand off his sword, hoping his son would out down his (which he didn't), and softened his expression, while having a look of confusion and some disappointment.  
\- Why do you defend these humans? - Asked Kasius.  
\- They just saved my life, and probably the entire universe. - Jack said, still without lowering his weapons.  
\- What do you mean?  
\- If I may speak... - Fred said.  
\- Silence, human!  
\- No need permission, Fred. - Jack said, defying his father.  
However, thanks to Kasius' yell, Fred had simply forgotten what he had wanted to say, so Linda sighed and stepped forward, keeping her eyes on the ground, more by fear of making a mistake than for respect.  
\- We did not come for the purpose of conquest, your Majesty. - Linda said politely. - Our mission was to catch a creature that had landed in Death Valley about twelve hours ago.  
\- We followed that thing to a cave in which there was a portal that ends up right here, so he and we ended up here by mistake. - Sam said.  
\- What would an alien want in my domain? - Kasius asked skeptically.  
\- We don't know for sure, but that creature attacked your son because he believed he had something he called tesseract. - John explained The old king was dumbfounded and had an expression of alarm, while the ghost soldiers were no better. They all knew what the alien was looking for, and while none believed the Spartans' tale, the fact that they had mentioned Tesseract made them doubt if it really was a lie.  
Kasius turned to one of the ghosts and gestured him to come to him.  
\- Go back to the tow immediately, say that I have imposed a curfew, take everyone out of the streets, not a soul can even look out the window! No one must know that there are humans here. - Kasius ordered. - Then tell Dr. Finklestein that we will go to his laboratory, he is the only one, beside ourselves, who can know that there are humans among us, understood?  
\- Yes, your Majesty. - The ghost nodded.  
The ghost turned and gestured the rest to follow him, leaving the preteens and the skeletons alone.  
When the ghosts disappeared, Kasius looked at his son (who had finally put his swords away) and said:  
\- Follow me, all of you, we have a lot to talk about.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 3.- Together we're invincible.**_

* * *

 **Part 1.- The most unexpected people are the best allies.**

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local calendar] -_ _2037 Hours [Local time]_ _\- Mission clock of Kasius and Jack Skellington, and the Blue Team -_ _Location: Outskirts of Doctor Finklestein's lab,_ _Halloween Town, Holiday Worlds, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

Kasius was frantic, despite not showing it.  
Probably the universe was in a great danger, especially considering what the Spartans had told to him about the alien alliance that called itself the Covenant. And if he was right, his town would be attacked by the Covenant in their quest for the Tesseract.  
Therefore, the Pumpkin King had ordered his troops to prepare for battle, but he knew that despite all their Tesseract-powered weapons, that his soldiers were undead and that because of both reasons they had great chances of winning the battle, as the human who had introduced himself as John-117, had said, the Covenant had a mania for "glassing" the planets where they lost the battle on ground. And despite his dislike for humans, Kasius was not going to let anyone destroy Earth.  
As they walked, one of the human females had suggested him to ask for help to the UNSC, as the Covenant would attack Earth anyway, but Kasius, being the proud king who he was, rejected the offer.  
However, since Jack was much more reasonable, and knew when to be afraid, he accepted the offer behind his father's bnack. Although there was a problem, and it was that the communicators of the Spartans could not transmit nor receive any signals as long they were in the Holiday Worlds.  
And while Kelly was fast, she could not avoid the many ghosts that were escorting them to Dr. Finklestein's lab, so they had to find a way to send a distress beacon through the portal so the UNSC could get ready for the attack, before it was too late.  
Once the undead and the humans arrived at the entrance of the weird doctor's home, Kasius opened the door and gestured the Spartans and his son to follow him. After the children walked inside, the king turned to his men and said:  
\- I want you to prepare all the defenses, send a message to the other Holiday Leaders, and tell Odin, Cosmic Blast and the rest of the Watch; if the Covenant is after the Stones, many worlds are in danger. It is imperative to make sure they don't get any. And also, I want some of you to watch this door, no other than the doctor or me can get out of here for no reason.  
The ghosts nodded, most hurried away while the rest stood outside the building, then Kasius entered Dr. Finklestein's home and closed the door, then he gestured the children to stay where they were.  
Minutes later, Jack, John, Kelly, Fred, Linda and Sam were waiting at the foot of the ramp that lead to the lab, while Kasius was inside the lab with Dr. Finklestein, showing him the sword that Jack had taken from the invader, and he showed him its similarities with an old sword with a blue light blade and his own sword. The children had received specific orders not to go anywhere, and to make them obey, Kasius summoned six skeletons to stop the children from going up the ramp, along with the ghosts guarding the door of the building. And although the Spartans and Jack followed the Pumpkin King's orders, that just made them feel more desperate, as the time to contact the UNSC was running out.  
\- This is frustrating... - Kelly sighed. - When will we jump into action?!  
\- Be patient, Kelly, or you might regret your words. - John said calmly.  
\- John's right. - Jack said. - What should concern us now is call the uniting notions something.  
\- United Nations Space Command. - Sam noted.  
\- Don'cha think we shouldn't talk 'bout contacting the UNSC in front of them? - Linda asked, as she gestured at the skeletons.  
\- Nah, they only listen if you address them directly, or if they are ordered to spy on someone. Anyway... are you sure your UNSC can beat the Covenant?  
Before any of the Spartans could utter a word, a series of barks was heard, then a ghostly canine phased through the wall of the lab and barked again happily as he floated closer to Jack, being petted by the prince.  
\- Hello, Zero. - Jack said with a smile. - Can you do us a favor?  
Zero barked in affirmation and Jack turned to John.  
\- John, give me your communicator. - Jack said.  
\- What are you trying to do? - John said.  
\- I'll ask my friend Sally to help us, she's up there, Zero can go to her and give the communicator.  
\- We can't just trust anyone... - Kelly blurted before Jack glared at her.  
\- I don't care. - The young prince muttered. - Either you trust my friend, or we lose the Earth, the Holiday Worlds and the Tesseract to the Covenant.  
\- Ok, even if we agree to trust your friend, we can't explain her everything, nor how to contact the UNSC, not to mention I don't think Hood and his men will trust her. - Sam said.  
\- I'm not good for electronics and stuff, but I think the lab and its contents create enough waves to make my plan work.  
Kelly, Linda, Fred and Sam looked at their squad leader, who just sighed and closed his eyes and then he took off his ear com and gave it to Jack. The skeleton grabbed it, inspected a second and activated it, causing the other Spartans to hear some static on their communicators. Jack tapped the microphone a couple times and whispered: "Can you hear me?" After the Spartans nodded, the skeleton handed John's communicator and his sword to Zero.  
\- Now, go with Sally and give her these things, then take her to the portal and wait for my instructions, okay? The fate of the Earth, and probably of the universe, hangs in the balance, just you and Sally can save us.  
Zero smiled and floated swiftly to Sally's room, all right before the eye sockets of the Pumpkin King's skeleton soldiers.  
Moments later, a young rag doll was looking out the window, feeling a massive fear, because she could see the Halloween army mobilizing from the cemetery to the town. Dr. Finklestein's creation tried to think of what had caused that, thinking maybe one of the other Holiday Leaders had declared war against Halloween, or perhaps the equestrians had returned, or perhaps the humans had found them.  
All her theories made her knees tremble violently as she had grown up listening horrible things about the wars that were fought, especially those against Equestria and Discord, so she was scared to death... Or she would be if she wasn't an undead.  
And as she kept spying on the Halloween soldiers through the huge window in her room, she heard a couple of barks coming from the door. The girl was taken aback when she heard them, so she walked to the door of her room and opened it, letting out a yelp when she saw Zero in front of her, with some sort of cylinder and an object with a small button, in his muzzle. The canine ghost barked a couple of times, as if he tried to incite to take the items from his snout. The ragdoll hesitantly took the cylinder and the object, then she uttered a faint yelp of surprise when the device with the button released some static noise.  
\- Sal... can... hear... me? - Said a voice for the device.  
Sally put the cylindrical object on his bed and pressed the little button on the other device, then she asked:  
\- W-who is it...?  
\- Sally... Put... thing... ear... - The voice answered again.  
\- What?  
\- Put the thing in your ear...  
\- Jack, is that you? What is this? What's going on? - Asked the ragdoll, ignoring her friend.  
\- I'll explain it later, right now I need you to do me a huge favor.  
\- Sure... I'll do whatever you ask me...  
\- Excellent... Look, I'll make this simple, there is an alien race on its way and we need to alert the army of human organization called UNSC...  
Sally froze when she heard her friend.  
\- ... And much as I hate myself for putting you in danger... I'm afraid you're the only one who can go contact them.  
Sally wanted to gulp hard, but even her throat was frozen due to her friend's revelation. The ragdoll wanted to help because she felt more than friendship for the prince (who ignored that fact), but the prospect of leaving when an alien race was on the way, made her subconscious beg her to put an end to her friendship with Jack and stay inside, where she had a chance to survive.  
Finally, just because her heart overwhelmed her mind, Sally swallowed her fear and turned the com on again.  
\- W-what do I have to do...? - Sally asked.  
\- Get out of the lab and go to the Hinterlands, then follow Zero, I ordered him to take you to a portal to the human world, but don't go through it yet, wait until my new friends tell you what to do to contact the UNSC, please. Oh, and don't forget to take my sword, that will identify you as an emissary of the royal family, so no one in town will attack you or anyone with you. - Jack explained.  
\- U-understood, Jack...  
\- And by the way, no matter what anyone else says, not only you're the bravest person in town, but you're a hero.  
Sally smiled at the young prince's kind words, which gave her an extra boost of confidence. The girl quickly grabbed all her sheets and clothes, tied them together other and formed a rope. The ragdoll tied one end to her closet, opened the window and threw the other end of the improvised rope through it.  
Seeing that most likely she would have to sew her legs after falling out the window, because the rope was not very long nor very strong, she took a spool of thread and put it in her pocket, as she fixed a needle right above her ear to keep it secured. Finally, Sally grabbed Jack's sword, put it in her mouth and began climbing down the rope, praying for it to resist long enough to let her reach the end, and for no one to notice she was out during the curfew.  
Lucky for her though, everyone seemed too busy planning the defense of the town, but to her misfortune, right when she was about to reach the last part of the makeshift rope, it got loose and made Sally hit the ground with a thud, breaking the threads that kept her left leg together and making her drop Jack's sword. The girl sighed and took her needle and thread to repair the damage she had suffered.  
Meanwhile, Zero floated down to Sally, who quickly re-sew her leg together. After a few minutes, the ragdoll put the needle back under her hair, grabbed her friend's sword and climbed up the wall that separated her creator's house from the cemetery, hoping to fulfill the favor for his friend without having to die.

* * *

 _(Ninth Age of Reclamation [Covenant calendar] - 2050 Hours - Thel 'Vadamee's mission clock -_ _Location: Unknown point of Death Valley, USA, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

Several minutes after escaping from his earthling captors and the strange world in which they had fought, the young Sangheili felt like a total failure.  
Five humans and a strange creature had subdued and captured him, and what was worse was that they were just as young or even younger than himself.  
And because of those same reasons, 'Vadamee hesitated to contact the Arbiter.  
He wanted to think of a way to steal the Tesseract from the strange, thin creature, before the Arbiter or any of the Ship or Field Masters found about his huge failure.  
While 'Vadamee kept thinking, some beeps snapped him out of concentration and made him feel quite uneasy. His com was ringing, and once he answered, he would have to confront the wrath of Ripa 'Moramee for his failure Knowing that things would only get worse if he prolonged his punishment, Thel 'Vadamee grabbed the communicator from his hip and activated it, hearing grunts and whispers in the background noise.  
\- "I'm surprised you're still alive, child, if you're 'Vadamee and not the human who killed him." - Said 'Moramee.  
\- "I'm still alive, Arbiter, but I'm afraid I failed. Despite locating the Tesseract, its owner and a group of Demons managed to defeat me, but I escaped..." - Sighed 'Vadamee.  
\- "No matter, if really you located the Tesseract, the fleet will arrive soon to destroy the planet and the humans, as well as anyone who stands in our way."  
When the Arbiter ended the transmission, 'Vadamee was taken aback, to say the least. 'Moramee was a warrior who did not tolerate failure, he had seen him kill others much less than his failure, so being so condescending with him was a very strange behavior.  
The young Sangheili put his communicator back in his hip and looked at the sky, thinking about what 'Moramee was up to, and why he did not even sound upset when he informed him of his failure.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 3. Together they can't beat us._**

* * *

 **Part 2.- Pride or glory.**

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2050 Hours [Local time] - Sally Finklestein and Zero's mission clock - Location: Hinterlands, outskirts of Halloween Town, Holiday Worlds, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

Sally was running as fast as her young legs could carry her.  
The ragdoll followed her best friend's ghost dog to the portal to the human world, and no matter how afraid she was of the humans, she had to fulfill the promise she had made to her best friend, because it was not only her moral responsibility, but failing to do so meant that everyone would perish at the Covenant's hands.  
Several minutes after entering the Hinterlands, Zero stopped short in his tracks and Sally did the same. Then the ghost dog barked a couple of times and pointed at a seemingly empty spot with his nose. The ragdoll reached out and touched the portal, being taken aback when her fingers went through some sort of veil into nothingness. The girl sighed in relief, put her other hand on the communicator and pressed the button.  
\- Jack, I made it to the portal. - Sally said.  
\- I'm not Jack, I'm John-117. - Answered a more serious voice than her friend's. - Jack asked me to tell you what to do now.  
\- Got it, what should I do?  
\- Well, go through the portal and use the communicator. Tell whoever answers that you need to communicate with Admiral Hood, and tell him that the Blue Team captured the Elite invader, but he managed to escape and there is an impending attack on Earth. Ask him to send reinforcements to your position and hide in the cave, under no circumstances allow yourself to get captured or killed. Use Jack's sword in case you have to defend yourself, but stay as close as you can to the portal.  
\- Ok... Understood... - Sally stammered.  
\- Do not be afraid, girl, the universe depends on you. - Said the voice of a girl.  
\- Don't help her so much, Linda... - Snapped a boy's voice with sarcasm.  
\- Enough. - John snapped. - Listen, Sally, the round part around the button that activates the microphone is used to change the frequency that the communicator transmits and receives. You must turn that part until someone into orbit gets your frequency.  
\- Got it.  
\- After that, someone will ask for your service code and why you are contacting them, you must answer that you speak on behalf of Squad Leader Sierra One-One-Seven, and the reason that you contact them is to report that the Blue Team's mission failed and there's an imminent attack by the Covenant to Earth. Then tell them that we request immediate reinforcements in your position to protect a relic that the Covenant wants.  
\- Are you sure it will work?  
\- Yes, no one on Earth, except us, knows about the Covenant, so they won't think it's a false alarm. Now go, go through the portal and bring the UNSC here.  
Sally gulped hard and hesitated slightly before stepping through the portal, followed by Zero. However, once in the human world, Sally heard a rock falling, and since the girl was terrified, she instinctively grabbed Jack's sword, ignited it and began to move it around like crazy with her eyes shut. After a few moments and after Sally had cut several rocks and stalagmites, the ragdoll opened her eyes and looked around, seeing that Zero was hiding behind a stalactite.  
\- Oh... I'm sorry, Zero... - Sally sighed as she turned of her friend's sword. - It's just that I'm scared to death... This is the first time I come here and I'm honestly terrified of humans...  
Zero floated to Sally and smiled, comforting the ragdoll a bit.  
\- Thank you... Well, we have to do this. - Sally said as she put her right hand on the communicator.  
The ragdoll tried to find the tuner with her fingers and when she found it, she began to rotate it slowly, until she could hear some static and a cut voice in-between. Sally turned the tuner a little more until the incoming transmission cleared.  
\- ... Repeat... Here Orbital Defense Platform "Athens," say your name or service code, rank and reason to make contact. - Said the voice of a woman.  
Sally quickly pressed the button on the communicator, after hearing the woman.  
\- Um, yeah... Well... Uhh... How can I...? - Sally said nervously.  
\- Say your name or code, range and reason for calling, soldier.  
\- I speak on behalf of Squad Leader Sierra One-One-Seven to report that the Blue Team's mission has failed, the Covenant will soon come to Earth and attacked my town!  
\- Why Sierra One-One-Seven could not contact us? And why did he send a girl?  
\- He was unavailable, but what I say is true! You have to believe me, ma'am!  
The Communications Lieutenant was indecisive. She didn't know if it was a trap set by Insurrectionists or something, or i the Covenant was really on its way to Earth. However, since the Cole Protocol stipulated it, she had to tell the SO about any sighting or report present Covenant, so he turned his chair and stood up, heading for the Commander in charge of the station.  
Meanwhile, the young undead girl was getting more and more alarmed with every second that passed without any sort of response from the soldier, and couldn't help but feel that something was going to attack very soon if John's reinforcements didn't arrive.  
\- Please, please, please response! We can't waste any more time! - Sally said very nervously.  
\- Here Commander Williams, Commanding Officer of the Orbital Defense Platform "Athens," who are you and how do you know classified information of the United Nations Space Command? - Said the voice of a man through the communicator.  
\- I-I don't know what you mean, sir...! - Sally said. - I was sent by some guy named John to ask for help because the Covenant will come and destroy Earth!  
The commander fell silent for a moment, making Sally even more nervous.  
\- Well, we had received a warning from Admiral Hood, your report is consistent and there is no way that a civilian, let alone a child, could know about the Covenant, unless Sierra One-One-Seven or his squadmates has revealed that to you. - Williams said. - Hold your position, a contingent of ODSTs will arrive soon.  
\- Thank you, sir! Many thanks! - Said Sally relieved.  
\- No need to thank, girl, it's our job. - Said Williams from the station. - Lieutenant, contact Admiral Hood, ask for a battalion of ODSTs and send it to the place where the transmission originated, and alert the crew, this is not a drill, the Covenant is on its way...  
The crew swallowed hard and did what the commander had ordered, while praying to whatever deity would listen, that might be the lucky few to survive an encounter with the Covenant.

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2055 Hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Jack Skellington, John-117, Kelly-087, Linda-058, Samuel-034 and Frederic-104 - Location: Doctor Finklestein's home, Halloween Town, Holiday Worlds, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

\- Well, it's been some time since Sally contacted us last time, so I guess she's made contact. - Kelly blurted.  
\- That, or she's already been captured or killed by the Covenant... - Fred blurted, causing everyone to glare at him furiously. - I'm sorry, I caught Linda's pessimism.  
\- Sure, blame me for your actions. - Grumbled the Spartan.  
\- Stop! - Jack snapped. - Sally is fine and I assure you that the UNSC is on the way!  
\- I'm with him, but I have a bad feeling. - John said. - Do you think your father would give us back our weapons in case we have to defend the town from the Covenant?  
\- No, he's too stubborn. Luckily the soldiers obey the royal family, so if I ordered them to, they'd give you your weapons back.  
\- Excellent. Now we just have to find a way out of here.  
\- Don't worry about it. - A male voice boomed from above.  
The Spartans and Jack turned to the ramp and saw some kind of white duck in a wheelchair going down next to the Pumpkin King, both looking at humans and with their weapons in their possession.  
\- Soon they will return to the human world, after we take care of the Covenant. - The king declared.  
\- You don't understand, your Highness, the Covenant will not surrender. - Kelly said. - They'll face whatever you throw at them, even if they know they can't win.  
\- No one can be so stupid.  
\- The Covenant thinks that to retreat or surrender is a dishonorable failure, and even if you can make them run away, there are still billions of them that will come one way or another. - Sam said.  
\- You underestimate the power of my people, human, not for nothing that we are the fourth most feared army in the galaxy.  
\- What are the other three? - Asked Fred.  
\- The less you know, the better for you, and I hope you are lucky enough to never have to see them, especially the Flood. They are the only thing that I actually fear.  
\- That does not matter, sir. - John said. - Risking thousands of innocent lives just to demonstrate the power of your army is a total stupidity.  
\- How dare you, human...?!  
\- He is right! - Jack roared. - You're risking lives, not only human but also those of our friends!  
Kasius was silent. That was the second time that Jack defended the humans instead of support him.  
Despite being a family, and while their father-son relationship was not that strong, he couldn't believe that something like that had happened. He felt betrayed, even though he knew the human and his son were right. The king looked at his son with a frown and a hint of disappointment, then he sighed and threw the weapons in his hands, at the feet of the Spartans, followed by Dr. Finklestein.  
The young soldiers picked up their guns and verified that they were in order, then they grabbed their helmets from a table out there and put them on as Jack walked up to his father.  
\- Thank you. - Jack said honestly.  
\- The enemy of my enemy is my friend. - Kasius said as he frowned at John. - ... Or in this case, a temporary ally for the greater good.  
\- It works for us. - John said. - What are your orders, sir?  
\- All of you follow me, except you, Jack.  
\- Not a chance, dad! - The prince snapped. - I owe them a debt of gratitude, the least I can do to try to repay it is fight at their side.  
Kasius growled in frustration at his son's stubbornness.  
\- Fine, but you better not risk yourself. - The father sentenced. - No playing hero, if there is no other way out, I want you to come back here, understood?  
\- I give my word as a prince of Halloween. - Jack said.  
Kasius nodded in satisfaction, but he inwardly knew the child was lying, but for the greater good, he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2055 hours [Local time] - Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood's mission clock - Location: Orbital Defense Platform of the UNSC "Cairo," high orbit above Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

\- Sir, I receive multiple contacts coming out of slipspace! - The Ensign of communications reported. - At least fifty contacts, six of them are cruisers, the rest are destroyers, frigates and a freighter.  
\- Alert all ships in the fleet, tell them to heat up the MAC guns. - Hood ordered. - Same goes for all the stations. And tell Fury to hide everything that happens.  
\- Aye, sir!  
\- Admiral, the Covenant freighter just broke through the blockade over Death Valley! - Reported one of the officers of the command center.  
\- Tell any station that is near to destroy that ship, we can't let the Covenant deploy their troops.  
\- It's not possible, sir, the Covenant dropships boarded each and diabled their MACs. - Said the AI of the space station.  
Hood cursed inwardly and looked out the window of the control room. Two space stations exploded before his eyes, followed by at least about five ships of the UNSC fleet. Earth did not have a proper defense for what had arrived.  
At least sixty Covenant ships were facing twenty orbital defense platforms, fifteen frigates ten destroyers and seven cruisers of the UNSC. Despite how incredibly vulnerable the Covenant ships were against the super MAC guns, after the Pyrrhic victory of the Covenant on Reach, they had learned to disable the super MACs, while they deployed their troops and decimated the human fleets.  
After sighing, Hood saw how six MAC bursts impacted the six Covenant cruisers, sending them into oblivion, but although they managed to get rid of the most dangerous ships, the human fleet dangerously diminished. The frigates were nearly gone, while the remaining cruisers and destroyers resisted as much as they could, but it was useless. Even if the reinforcements came, they would arrive too late.  
The Earth would fall to the Covenant.  
Hood turned and looked at the hologram AI of his space station with a stern expression.  
\- Dalilah, ordered the evacuation of the station, and get ready to use the third article of the Cole Protocol. - Hood ordered.  
\- Sir, there is no way to evacuate, if the fleet doesn't stop this attack, we wouldn't even go beyond the moon. - Dalilah let out.  
\- No, but we will have more opportunities to stop the Covenant from getting what they want. So tell everyone that I order to all the personnel of the UNSC, that if they find whatever the Covenant seeks, to destroy it by any means.  
\- Aye, sir.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 3.- Together they can't beat us.**_

* * *

 **Part 3.- The Battle of Halloween Town.**

* * *

 _(October 31st, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2055 Hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Sergeant Major Dmitry Karpov, the 257th ODST Battalion, Sally Finklestein and Zero - Location: Unknown of Death Valley, United States of America, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

A group of no less than fifty Pelicans was traveling as fast as they could towards the source of the transmission that had alerted the UNSC of the presence of the Covenant, which seemed to be the same place where the Covenant forces were heading. They had explicit orders to stop the enemy forces, or if they were unable to do so, they had to destroy whatever they sought on Earth.  
While the Pelicans were traveling, Dmitry Karpov glanced at his squad and saw that everyone was terrified. They all were no older than twenty-three, and he felt some pity for them, because no matter how long they had trained, he knew that at least eighty percent of his battalion would lose their lives in the fight, and that just if they had good luck. But seeing how the situation was going in orbit, Karpov was more than sure that none of them would survive the Battle of Earth.  
As they approached the place where the transmission that had alerted them about the attack of the Covenant, had originated, the Pelicans began their descent and the Marines rushed out of the transport ships, taking their weapons and preparing for combat. Then Karpov pulled a small device out of one of his many pockets and turned it on, seeing that a small spot was inside a nearby cave.  
\- Over here, follow me. - Said the Sergeant Major.  
The soldiers nodded and followed the senior officer to the cave, where Karpov managed to spot a bright light and a little girl who was spying they from behind a group of stalactites.  
\- I'm Sergeant Major Dmitry Karpov, 257th Battalion of the UNSC Navy, are you the one who alerted us about the attack of the Covenant? - Karpov said.  
The girl behind the stalactites nodded and slowly emerged from her hiding spot, making everyone gasp when they saw the bluish color of the girl's skin and the multiple stitches in her body. Several of the soldiers rushed up to Sally and inspected her completely horrified because they couldn't believe how anyone could have done that to a little girl. But on the other hand, the ragdoll was somewhat confused and scared, mainly because the soldiers were carrying not just firearms, but also several knives on their gear.  
\- Who did this? - A marine asked.  
\- W-who did what? - Sally stammered.  
\- The stitches, who did this to you?  
\- W-well... I... I've done several of them... but most of them were made by the doctor...  
\- Why did you do this? - Asked Karpov.  
\- W-well... I'm a ragdoll... Sometimes my threads are loose, or my limbs fall off, but this time the threads of my legs got broken because I fell off the rope I used to leave my room without anyone seeing me.  
The Marines were stunned by the revelation of the girl. They simply could not believe that she was a ragdoll, because her skin, despite being blue, seemed normal. However, they didn't have time to understand how it was that a doll was alive.  
\- This is weird but we don't have time to understand it, you have to show us where your town is. - Karpov said.  
\- Over here, you have to... - Sally said before passing through the portal.  
Several of the Marines jumped due to the unexpected disappearance of the girl, then they let out a muffled yelp several when her head and half of her torso reappeared from some sort of veil.  
\- Sorry, I didn't know where exactly the portal is. - Sally said. - It's around here. Zero, come on!  
The soldiers saw a ghost dog, which followed the girl through the veil in the middle of the cave. Then Karpov gestured his men to follow him and they all went through the portal. After that, the Marines looked around, seeing that they were now in a grayish forest, full of dead trees.  
\- Okay, where's your town, girl? - Asked Karpov.  
\- Over here, follow me. - Sally said.  
The battalion of marines prepared their weapons and followed the girl, while in the world of the mortals, things got worse every second.

* * *

 _(October 31, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2105 Hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Thel 'Vadamee, the Arbiter Ripa'Moramee and his Field Unit - Location: Unknown point of Death Valley, United States of America, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

After crossing the blockade that humans had put in the place they called "Death Valley," and destroy at least fifty human dropships, a huge Covenant freighter was a few tens of feet above the mountain where the portal that lead to the world of Halloween, was, and immediately released hundreds and hundreds of troops of all kinds, while the Arbiter walked up to the young Sangheili who had tried to steal the Tesseract, Thel 'Vadamee.  
\- "Tell me about that world." - 'Moramee ordered in their native language.  
\- "I found the Tesseract is in possession of a creature that resembles a human, but much thinner, and almost as tall and strong as me." - Explained 'Vadamee. - "His sword skills are considerable, and now there are five Demons with him, that is why they beat me."  
\- "Well... you will have chance to redeem leaders want the troops and bring me the heads of the Hell, while I take the Tesseract and the life of its possessor."  
'Vadamee nodded as 'Moramee ordered his troops to obey any order that the young Sangheili gave.  
Immediately afterwards, 'Vadamee ordered the Covenant forces to follow him and led them into the portal.  
Once the Covenant went through the portal, all the troops readied their weapons and marched towards the town, being led by the Arbiter and the young warrior, 'Vadamee.

* * *

 _(October 31st, 1990 [Local calendar] - 2115 Hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Kasius,Dalilah and Jack Skellington, John-117, Kelly-087, Samuel-034, Frederic-104, Linda-058, Sergeant Major Dmitry Karpov, 257th ODST Battalion, Sally Finklestein and Zero - Location: Graveyard, Halloween Town, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

After a short discussion between Jack, the Spartans, Dr. Finklestein and Kasius, for sending Sally to get help from the UNSC Navy, all of them were getting ready to repel the Covenant forces and prevent them to even come close to the Tesseract.  
Right now, the Halloween armed forces were placed at strategic locations to take the alien soldiers by surprise as soon as they set their feet on the graveyard.  
A few minutes after the defenses were at their posts, they all managed to spot a bright light coming from the Hinterlands, to which they all responded by readying for the attack. However, everyone calmed down a bit as they saw a blade of blue light fluttering from one side to the other. Jack grinned at the sight of his saber, then headed toward the entrance gate of the town while Sally and Zero quickly ran through the graveyard, being followed closely by the ODSTs that the UNSC had sent.  
When they reached the entrance of the town, the ragdoll passed between the bars and met her best friend, whom he hugged, while the young skeleton corresponded the gesture.  
\- I knew you could do it, I knew it! - Jack said cheerfully.  
\- And yet you doubted it, Linda. - Fred said.  
\- Stop teasing, Fred... - Linda snapped.  
\- Good job, girl. - Kasius said, and then walked up to the Marines. - Well, which one of you is in charge?  
\- I am. - Karpov said. - Sergeant Major Dmitry Karpov, United Nations Space Command Marine Co...  
\- Enough introductions, Major. - Said the Pumpkin King. - Let them in, we will need their help.  
The entrance gate rose and the marines entered the town, watching everything around them with detail.  
\- Well, I don't have time to get to know you all, so I'll just give orders. - Kasius said. - Snipers will be placed in Dr. Finklestein's lab, the roof of the Town Hall and the building in front of the Witches' shop. The rest must use the walls around the plaza and the town to repel the invaders.  
\- What are these places? - Asked one of the snipers.  
\- Kyam, Banshee, Sally and Linda-058 will guide you.  
Sally let out a strangled yelp when she heard the Pumpkin King mention her name, but she calmed down a bit, because she would go home and would be relatively safe. On the other hand, Linda nodded as she grabbed the sniper rifle on her back. Then a couple of ghosts appeared from nowhere and stood next to the Spartan and the ragdoll.  
Immediately afterwards, a group of about twenty snipers divided into four groups of seven and each group followed one of the guides to the highest locations of the strange town.  
\- Well, Daliah, John, Sam, Kelly, Fred, Jack, you six will be the last line of defense. - Kasius said. - If something were to pass through the other lines, you will have to deal with them and prevent them from reaching the shelter or to the vault.  
\- Understood, sir. - The Spartans said as they saluted.  
\- And most importantly, if the situation becomes untenable, I want you to take the Tesseract and flee from here, no matter what happens to the marines or our forces, or even me, if the Covenant gets their hands on the Space Stone, nothing will stop them.  
\- But Kasius... - Said the undead woman.  
\- No, Daliah, I don't want anything to happen to you or Jack.  
Daliah sighed heavily and tried to kiss her husband, but something interrupted them.  
\- Incoming! - Shouted one of the marines.  
\- Get your guns ready, men! - Karpov shouted.  
\- Do not attack until I order it! - Kasius ordered.  
The marines checked that their rifles were loaded and pointed them at the incoming Covenant forces while Kasius walked away from his family and ignited his sword. Meanwhile, Daliah looked down in sadness as she, her son and the Spartans took their post to defend the entrance to the Skellington Vault, which was under the fountain in the center of the town square.  
At the entrance of the Hinterlands, Thel 'Vadamee and Ripa 'Moramee were at the head of the massive Covenant attack group, and they were ready to destroy anyone who tried to prevent them from taking the Tesseract.  
As they saw the strange city that was about to be purged by the Covenant, 'Moramee clicked his jaws and remembered his little encounter with the king of that land. After a moment, 'Moramee carefully observed the scene and managed to spot a group of humans preparing to try to repel the assault of the Covenant. The Arbiter couldn't help but laugh wickedly as he thought that no matter what Kasius Skellington and the humans tried, he had already won the battle.  
'Moramee looked at 'Vadamee and gestured him to begin the attack, to which the young Sangheili nodded.  
\- "Warriors of the Covenant! Charge against the city, eliminate all resistance, purge the galaxy of these humans and claim the Tesseract in the name of our sacred alliance!" - 'Vadamee roared.  
A massive roar was heard, accompanied by grunts from the few present Jilharanae, gurgles and squeals from the Kig-Yar, chirps from the Yanme'e and some sort of barking from the Unggoy.  
The alien warriors ignited their swords and shields, while the Unggoy took their place in front of the group.  
\- Don't shoot yet! - Kasius ordered.  
The marines began to lose patience and got nervous, they could barely distinguish the invaders to the distance between the dark, but the flashes of their weapons and shields, the Marines could see that they were no less than six hundred, while they were less than seventy.  
An overwhelming silence covered the battlefield, and from one moment to another, the Unggoy released their characteristic barking and rushed into battle, being followed by the rest of the troops of the Covenant.  
Kasius smirked seeing that as expected, the Covenant charged on the attack stupidly, without even thinking they were falling straight into a trap.  
As soon as the Covenant forces stepped into the cemetery, several howls were heard among them, accompanied by roars of pain and surprise.  
The Marines gasped when they saw that the Covenant was being attacked by zombies rising from the ground and dragging them underground, burying them alive, skeletons armed themselves from piles of bones scattered everywhere, who drove their spears and swords through them, and ghosts arising from exploding pumpkins, damaging nearby enemies, while the ghosts threw punches and clawed the aliens.  
\- Fire! - Kasius ordered.  
A second later, a rain of bullets fell on the troops of the Covenant, causing another couple dozen aliens fall to the ground, dead, piling up on those who had fallen during the surprise attack by Kasius' army.  
However, the Marines and the undead troops received a rain of plasma in response to the attack, and to Kasius' disgrace, his troops fell like flies to the plasma bursts fired by the Covenant.  
However, the Halloween troops continued their ferocious attack on the Covenant and managed to reduce their numbers enough.  
But among the combatants of both armies, an imposing figure stood, which blocked everything that was thrown at him with a huge energy sword, and used his size to get rid of everything that was put in his way, either ally or enemy.  
Seeing this, Kasius Skellington started walking towards the figure, receiving several shots from the invaders, but managing to dodge and block each with a few swift movements of his sword.  
Gradually, the leaders of both sides came closer, and as they did, both moved faster and showing an increasingly severe expression.  
As the two leaders got closer, they began to roar at each other, until the Pumpkin King and the Arbiter clashed their swords against each other. And despite the marked difference in height and musculature, Kasius was as strong as 'Moramee, besides being much more agile and faster. These characteristics of the Pumpkin King did nothing but anger 'Moramee, who quickly drew out his second sword and tried to impale the Pumpkin King's torso with it. But to his surprise, his second sword was deflected by a second green saber, and during his momentary confusion, Kasius took the opportunity to kick the Elite in the torso and make him stagger back.  
\- I see I'm not the only one who's good with two swords. - Kasius chuckled. - It was good that Daliah taught me how to build lightsabers.  
\- So you're also a jedi? - Smiled 'Moramee. - Good, I never had the chance to murder one...  
\- And you still will not have it, I'm not a jedi... I'm something much worse!  
Kasius lunged to the attack again, but 'Moramee managed to block his attack.  
On the other hand, Thel 'Vadamee and a small group of Covenant warriors had turned their camouflages and had managed to go unnoticed by fighters, managing to reach the walls of the town, where jumped the walls and looked around, having to dodge a metal cage.  
Meanwhile, the Spartan were confused. Not only had Daliah thrown a heavy cage at a wall near them, but she had done so with nothing more than a single movement of her hand.  
\- What just happened? - Sam asked.  
\- You can hide from my sight, but you can't hide from the Force! - Daliah yelled as she lit a white lightsaber.  
Immediately, an energy sword ignited out of nowhere and launched at the undead woman, only to have the possessor of that weapon quickly beheaded by the Pumpkin Queen.  
And to astonish both the invaders and the Spartans even more, before the dead sangheili's weapon touched the ground, she pulled her into her hand and looked at it for a second.  
\- Interesting... - Daliah snapped. - This weapon would put me in a bind if they knew how to use it, or if they were a little faster... And to their misfortune, I do know how to use it, it will work perfectly along with my lightsaber, plus I'm faster than you will ever be.  
\- "She's a Jedi!" - A sangheili roared, still invisible.  
At least six more swords were turned on, then a rain of plasma fell on the Spartans, Jack and Daliah. John, Sam, Kelly and Fred covered themselves behind the fountain in the center of the square while Jack and his mother used their swords to block and deflect the shots.  
After a couple of seconds, the invaders' weapons overheated, and the Spartans, the skeleton and the undead took advantage of the moment to counterattack.  
Jack lunged at the sword that was closest to the ground, attacking with a powerful kick to the Sangheili, making him crash against the wall behind him and taking away his camouflage, revealing him to be the same invader he had encountered in the Hinterlands.  
\- You! - Jack said as he grabbed the sword he had taken from 'Vadamee on their first encounter.  
The skeleton ignited 'Vadamee's sword, which made the Sangheili growl and glare at the Pumpkin Prince. Then the young Sangheili lit his new sword again and lunged at the attack, taking Jack off guard, but being a skeleton, the blade simply cut through his shirt.  
However, 'Vadamee kept his fierce attack going against the young prince, while the Pumpkin Queen wielded her lightsaber and an energy sword against three of the invaders, managing to match their abilities with great ease, and while the Spartans maintained an intense firefight against the rest of the Sangheili, noting that whenever they killed one, another one managed to pass the battlefield, despite all the defenses.  
Meanwhile, things weren't going as well for the Marines and the Halloween army as Kasius had believed. The Covenant forces were far more numerous than expected, and their weapons were far more powerful than he had thought, and the worst thing was that the plasma rounds they fired were effective against all sorts of monsters.  
However, everyone was ready to fight to the last man, woman and monster standing. But since they were running out of ammunition, they would soon find themselves in need of abandoning the walls and buildings they used to cover the enemy fire in an attempt to take some of the dead Covenant troops' weapons.  
\- They're pushing through all the defenses! - One of the snipers reported.  
\- We must resist! - Ordered Karpov. - We can't let these bastard aliens get away with whatever they're after!  
\- We can't resist for long, I have almost no ammo left! - Linda said.  
Suddenly, a beam of purple light pierced the skull of a marine, who fell back lifeless. Several beams of light hit several snipers and marines in the head, which made the rest take cover as best as they could.  
\- They got snipers! - Shouted Karpov.  
\- I'd take care of them, but we're all out of ammo here! - Linda remarked.  
\- Oh, god! We are all gonna die! - One of the Marines shouted in utter despair.  
\- Stay calm, soldier! - Ordered Karpov. - If we are going to die, we will die fighting!  
\- It's useless when we have no defense! - Sam said.  
\- I got it! - Kelly said as she reloaded her gun. - Jack, your majesty, can you communicate with your forces at the distance?!  
\- The Force surrounds us all! - The Pumpkin Queen replied while she decapitated three other sangheili.  
\- It's an elegant way of saying yes! - Jack said.  
\- Ask them to gather all the weapons they can and give them to the Marines and us! And tell some of them to attack the snipers so they can give their weapons to ours! - Kelly said as she and John got rid of another invader with their last cartridges.  
\- You're a genius, Kelly! - Fred said while he tried to reload his weapon, before realizing that he had no ammunition. - Damn, I ran out of ammo!  
As he heard Fred's statement, Jack and his mother noticed several plasma rifles around them, so with various and agile movements, they kicked several in the direction of the Spartans who were taking cover by the fountain.  
John noticed that and jumped in for one, then used it to shoot the Covenant troops, distracting them long enough for his teammates to hurry to take one too.  
In the meantime, the Arbiter was still trying to get rid of the Pumpkin King, but no matter what, Kasius was still more skillful, agiler and quicker than he was, and worse yet, he had a strength that matched his own, as the skeleton showed no sign of fatigue, while he began to take some toll of the long and difficult sword-duel. On the other hand, Kasius couldn't help but feel great, since no one had been able to fight him with such fervor and ferocity for so long, but he still felt quite disappointed, as although 'Moramee was the best opponent he had ever had in centuries, he wasn't a good match for him. But that was to be expected, not for nothing, Kasius Skellington was the third most dangerous swordsman in the universe.  
\- Stop moving, creature! - 'Moramee roared.  
\- You stop being so slow! - Kasius laughed as he continued to block the Arbiter's attacks with complete ease.  
The Arbiter roared and tried to attack from both sides, but Kasius easily blocked both thrusts, however, to his disgrace, the huge Sangheili took Kasius' momentary distraction to kick him hard into the torso, breaking the Pumpkin King's armor with ease.  
The skeleton fell on his back and growled in pain and frustration, then heard a roar, which made him roll aside quickly as 'Moramee fell to the ground, driving his swords into the ground. Seeing that, Kasius kicked 'Moramee's forearms with all his strength, smiling with satisfaction as he heard that one of them broke.  
However, his smile faded quickly when several purple beams went through his leg, causing him incredible pain.  
Kasius growled in pain as his leg returned to the ground, then he tried to stand up, but it was impossible, as he had several holes in his leg, he felt that it could break if he tried.  
On the other hand, 'Moramee looked at his opponent on the floor and smiled, although he had a broken arm, the skeleton was much more incapacitated than he was.  
As such, 'Moramee smiled maliciously and ignited his sword again to end the duel once and for all.  
However, Kasius wasn't defeated yet, so he quickly covered himself with flames, much to 'Moramee's surprise, but when the fire died, the skeleton had turned into some kind of creature with legs slightly thicker than the ones he had as a skeleton, made of straw, arms similar to askew branches and a pumpkin head. And since 'Moramee had been distracted with his transformation, the Pumpkin King threw a fireball at his face, causing his energy shield to sparkle as the sangheili staggered backwards.  
Kasius smiled with satisfaction and began to concentrate his fire to release a powerful fire blast with enough force to get rid of 'Moramee's shields and make the alien giant fall with his back to the ground.  
After that, Kasius crawled to his swords, took them and managed to stand up again, and in spite of that, he knew that his injured leg would not withstand for long, so if he couldn't beat 'Moramee soon, the Sangheili would definitely kill him. Therefore, the Pumpkin King reignited his swords and lunged at 'Moramee.  
Back with the soldiers, Karpov could see that despite the ease with which they had been able to maim the invading forces of the Covenant at the beginning of the battle, the troops of the invaders kept coming. And the more that came, the closer they got to the walls, and the worst part was that many had already managed to sneak into the square, where the Spartans, Jack and his mother managed to keep them at bay.  
And with the Royal Family of Halloween, the Prince was still dueling against the young 'Vadamee, who, despite having only a sword, was skilled enough to equate Pumpkin Prince, which obviously began to annoy Jack. However, thanks to the enormous amount of years he had been training, Jack could act without his emotions controlling his judgment, which was good, because if he began to act impulsively, 'Vadamee would certainly take the opportunity and kill him. On the other hand, Queen Pumpkin felt incredible. For hundreds of years she had not been involved in a fight and fighting with a lot of opponents, which were quite good and in fact managed to entertain her, but they were still nothing compared to her.  
The Blue Team leader continued to shoot endlessly at the invaders who managed to escape Daliah Skellington's swords, and as the forces of both sides diminished, the Spartans noticed that the Covenant invaders coming from the Far lands were no longer as numerous as at first, which showed that the battle would not last much longer and that they would probably be able to win.  
If only they managed to survive.  
Back at the Pumpkin King, 'Moramee smiled widely as he continued to duel with Kasius, for despite his broken arm, Kasius' speed and agility advantages had almost disappeared, all thanks to the shots that the latter had received in the leg.  
However, Kasius was still a formidable swordsman, so despite losing his advantages, he was still superior to 'Moramee in combat.  
And therefore, the combat could only end in one way.  
When their swords clashed again, the Pumpkin King turned his lightsaber and cut off the Arbiter's hand. 'Moramee let out a howl after the blade of Kasius' lightsaber went through his only useful hand, but soon, his pain was over, as Kasius twirled around him, beheading him with a swift and fluid movement of his tesseract saber.  
At that moment, the Covenant warriors and UNSC forces stopped firing, especially the Unggoy, who let out a shriek of terror, dropped their weapons and tried to flee to the Hinterlands, only to be quickly eliminated by Kasius' soldiers and the Karpov's snipers.  
Meanwhile, Kasius' leg finally gave in, causing him to fall to his knees on the floor, while he grunted in pain.  
But he was still satisfied, as once again another formidable opponent had fallen before him, just as he expected.  
On the other hand, Jack, 'Vadamee and Daliah saw with surprise the moment in which Kasius beheaded 'Moramee, thing that angered 'Vadamee, who interrupted a growing smile in the face of the Pumpkin Prince with a powerful kick to his abdomen, which made him crash into the fountain. Immediately afterwards, Jack shot 'Vadamee a murderous look and raised his hand to him as he made a gesture, pretending to be squeezing something. In that second, 'Vadamee felt that he was being strangled by an invisible hand, which made him open his eyes in surprise as he started to look for an object in his belt.  
\- "Die, you cursed Jedi!" - 'Vadamee roared as he threw a plasma grenade at Jack.  
Jack opened his sockets wide and let go of 'Vadamee, allowing him to turn, make a gesture to the other Sangheili and flee, being followed by the other troops of the Covenant who had survived, while Jack used the Force to divert the grenade to the Town Hall, destroying part of it when the explosive detonated.  
Immediately afterwards, Jack got to his feet, grabbed his saber and ran after 'Vadamee, being quickly followed by the Blue Team.  
Daliah yelled at her son to stop, but he was determined to kill 'Vadamee, and the Spartans still had orders to capture him.  
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the young ragdoll and best friend of the Pumpkin Prince, Sally, watched as Linda jumped out of the window of her room and followed her squadmates, who were just behind Jack, who chased after 'Vadamee.  
That made the ragdoll feel a terrible fear that something bad would happen to Jack, so he imitated Linda to try to follow his friend, being lucky enough to fall on a pile of dead Covenant troops, which cushioned her fall.  
Immediately after, Sally began to run after the Spartans, being able to follow the passage to them easily, since it knew better the ground.  
Meanwhile, 'Vadamee was still running toward the portal, along with what was left of the Covenant group that had tried to take Halloween Town to steal the Tesseract, trying to get rid of the Demons and the slim monster that had beaten him twice.  
Maybe the attack had failed, but even so, they were going to win, as, by that time, the Holy Covenant Fleet had already taken out the miserable human fleet, so they would begin the purification of the planet humans called Earth, and when they finished, they would simply walk between the glazed moors and the ashes to take the Tesseract.  
A few minutes later, the Covenant troops crossed the veil to return to the mountain in Death Valley and immediately left the cave so one of them could call the ship into orbit and activate the gravity elevator.  
Few seconds later, the surviving Covenant troops were lifted into the ship, where they all ran to their posts, except 'Vadamee, who ran to the ship's bridge, looking directly at the shipmaster, who looked at him with confusion.  
\- "Where is the Arbiter?" - The shipmaster asked.  
\- "Dead." - 'Vadamee said. - "And the assault on the city has failed, we must destroy this planet."  
\- "No, we have orders from the Prophet of Regret, we must do some research on what the humans on Earth can do, first."  
\- "What do you mean?"  
\- "You will understand later."  
\- "Well, at least we must prevent the Demons and that strange, thin being from getting in our way. We must destroy the entrance."  
The shipmaster nodded, then he gestured at the Sangheili on the other controls to activate the energy projector.  
Meanwhile, inside the cave, Jack and the Spartans traversed the veil of the portal and looked around, finding no trace of the aliens, then turned around to hear a couple of steps behind her, which made them spin With their weapons ready to attack, but right after that, they lowered their weapons, seeing that it was just Sally.  
However, the skeleton gasped at the ragdoll.  
\- Sally! What the hell are you doing here?! - Jack said.  
\- I-I... - Sally stammered.  
\- No time for that, just follow us and stay behind us. - John snapped. - Jack and I will take point. Linda, Sam, take the flanks and cover Sally. Fred, Kelly, you guys take the rear.  
The Spartans and the Prince nodded, then prepared their weapons as they took their positions. Then, the group slowly emerged from the cave, looking quickly all around, but they did not see Covenant warriors anywhere.  
But that only made John worry, for he knew that that only meant that the Covenant was preparing to glass the planet.  
So the squad leader looked up and his eyes widened in complete terror.  
When he saw him, Jack was quite confused.  
\- What's happening? - The Pumpkin Prince asked.  
\- ... Run... - John said.  
The other Spartans looked up and gasped as an intense purple light surrounded them.  
Sally and Jack looked up as well and were astonished to see the intense purple light that was concentrating on a spot of a bright purple ship.  
Immediately afterwards, John hit Jack on the shoulder with the back of his hand to make him react, then he gestured his squadron to follow him, while Jack carried Sally over his shoulder and ran after the Spartans, few moments before a powerful burst of energy destroyed the mountain in which the portal was, which created a powerful blast that sent the younglings flying, along with the remnants of the mountain and causing a gigantic cloud of dust.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Arc 2.- The Siege of Earth.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4.- Devastation and despair.**

* * *

 _(November 1st, 1990 [Local calendar] - 0005 Hours [Local time] - Mission clock of the Blue Team, Jack Skellington_ and _Sally Finklestein - Location: Unknown point of Death Valley, United States of America, surface of the Earth, Sol system)_

* * *

Hours after the Covenant destroyed the mountain where the portal to Halloween Town was, the young ragdoll, Sally Finklestein, moaned in pain out loud and began to slowly open her eyes.  
Few moments after that, Sally sighed and looked around, noticing that the Spartans were buried under piles of rocks or sand, but she felt a pang of panic, noticing Jack was nowhere to be seen.  
Quickly, the ragdoll tried to find her friend, but there were two problems with that.  
The first was that her right arm was over Fred's neck and her leg was quite loose.  
And the second was that there was a bony arm around her waist, holding her firmly.  
That made Sally turn her gaze over her shoulder and notice that Jack's headless body was under her, in an apparent attempt to protect her.  
At the thought of it, Sally couldn't help but smile and feel a warm sensation coming from her chest.  
However, Sally was snapped out of her stupor by a loud and rather feminine scream of terror, which made her turn her head quickly and see Fred throwing her arm away from him.  
\- Hey, calm down, it's just my arm. - Sally said.  
And with that being said, the ragdoll mentally called her arm and made it crawl up to her, before Fred's stunned gaze.  
\- What the hell are you? - Fred asked, still in shock.  
\- Hey, you better apologize! - Jack's voice snapped from somewhere.  
\- Spartans... are you okay? - John asked with a groan.  
\- I feel that my brain was pureed... - Linda moaned while she recovered her consciousness.  
\- I think I broke my soul... but I'm still alive... - Kelly said as she crawled out of the pile of rocks she was under.  
\- I need someone to help me... this rock caught me... - Sam said.  
\- I still haven't heard you apologizing, Fred! - Jack snapped.  
\- Fine... - Fred sighed as he turned to see Sally. - I'm sorry, I think I'm still getting used to the fact that you guys are not alive... wait, where's your head?  
\- I have no idea but it's dark.  
\- You're probably under the same rock as me. - Sam let out.  
John, Fred, Kelly and Linda stood up and walked up to Sam, then they spread around the rock that was holding him, and began to lift it up, much to Sally's surprise, who was picking her arm off the ground and sitting down to sew it back in place.  
A few moments later, as soon as Sam was free, the Spartans lowered the rock while Sam looked over his shoulder and discovered that, just as he had thought, Jack's head was under the same rock as him. The Spartan grabbed the Pumpkin Prince's head and walked towards his body, who was laying next to Sally. While the rest of the Blue Team walked up to Sally, Jack and Sam, the latter putting the skeleton's head in place and Jack starting to move his body, to get rid of the numbness.  
\- Thank you, Sam. What happened? - Jack asked.  
\- The Covenant bombarded the mountain with plasma, and like in the battle of your town, it's likely that the portal has also disappeared. - John sighed. - What surprises me is that they haven't bombarded the rest of the Earth's surface.  
\- Look up and you'll know why they haven't, Chief... - Linda snapped.  
The group of teenagers looked up and let out a loud gasp as they saw that there were at least ten ships in the low orbit of the Earth above them, and they could see much more at the distance.  
\- What are they planning? - Kelly wondered aloud.  
\- From what I see, I think they're besieging the Earth. - Jack blurted out. - Nothing enters and nothing comes out, but with the portal destroyed, what the hell do they want with Earth now?  
\- Are there any other relics they may want? - John asked.  
\- Let me remember... - The skeleton said as he laid a hand on his chin. - There's the Eye of Agamotto, but the Ancient One is too powerful for the Covenant to defeat, I doubt they can even use it; the Philosopher's Stone, which I don't know where was hidden by its owners; the Deathly Hallows, which are in the possession of several owners; there are hundreds more, but the vast majority can only be used by the elect, and the rest are relics so minor that they are insignificant... or maybe...  
\- Maybe?  
\- Maybe they want to get rid of all humans with special abilities, or study them to counteract their skills.  
\- Special abilities? Like us? - Sam asked.  
\- You have special abilities? - Jack and Sally asked.  
\- You've never seen another human, have you? - Fred said.  
\- I think I told you before that I haven't. - Jack said. - Anyway, the humans I'm referring to are wizards and witches, Inhumans and Mutants.  
\- Aren't you forgetting the metahumans? - Kelly asked.  
\- Whatever, from this moment on, all the humans and other beings of this world that possess abilities that very few others possess, are in danger.  
\- Which means we must find a way to call the UNSC fleet, break the siege and force the Covenant out of this system. - John said.  
\- I'm sorry to burst your bubble, John, but a whole Covenant armada is too much for us to overcome. - Linda said.  
\- Linda's right, we're only a bunch of kids, there's no way we can beat the Covenant this time... - Sally sighed as she stood up to check herself. - Excellent, everything is fine now, but I need more thread.  
\- If only we could gather all the armies of the world... - Said Sam.  
\- It would be useless, if we can't find a way to destroy the Covenant fleet, we will be doomed, even if we could defeat the Covenant on land. - Kelly said.  
\- Maybe if we could gather the humans with powers... - Fred released.  
\- It would be impossible, at this point, I doubt that there is any place where they live that the Covenant hasn't conquered. - Jack said. - But we can still try to gather some, perhaps with some of them, we could launch an attack against the fleet.  
\- Sounds like we have a plan. - John said. - We have to move, Kelly, where's the east?  
Kelly looked at the sky for a minute, but because of the number of Covenant ships orbiting Earth, it was impossible for her to find the constellations to guide herself.  
\- I'm sorry, Chief, but I can't find it, and worse, I doubt our compasses survived the battle and the destruction of the mountain. - Kelly sighed.  
\- The west is there. - Jack pointed to a side. - So the east must be in the opposite direction.  
\- How can you be so sure? - Sam asked.  
\- The Force tells me to go in that direction.  
\- Let's move, hopefully, we'll find a safehouse to plan our next move in Las Vegas. - John said. - Maybe even find some weapons on the way.  
\- Then let's go before the Covenant finds out we're still here. - Jack said.  
The improvised team nodded and began a quick survey of the area, trying to find parts of their equipment that were still useful, finding that only a pair of Magnums, one of the plasma rifles that they had gotten while they were pursuing 'Vadamee, a plasma grenade, Jack's tesseract saber and the energy sword that he had taken from 'Vadamee, although that weapon had already ran out of energy.  
Moments later, the children began their journey to Vegas, having to practically run to evade the various air and ground patrols of the Covenant that he was reviewing the area.  
Fortunately, the seven kids had a fairly great physical stamina, so the group had managed to run for three hours straight, before having to stop because Sally had tired up a bit.  
A few minutes after the youngsters sat down to rest, they heard a tremendous rumble and a great trembling, which made them leave their hiding place, because it began to fall apart.  
When the children ran out of their hiding spot, they let out a loud gasp, for in front of them, covered in flames and a cloud of dust, was a recently fallen Covenant ship.  
\- What the hell happened here?! - Fred said.  
\- Who did this?! - Linda said, totally confused.  
\- I don't know, but we'd better check to see if we can find any transport or functional weapons. - John said as he walked towards the ship. - But quick, before another ship comes to find out what happened.  
Jack nodded and ran after John, having to slide through the crater that the ship had caused when it hit the ground, and within seconds, they heard the others do the same.  
When they reached the bottom of the crater, the youngsters prepared their weapons and retook their positions around Sally, being ready to attack in case there were enemies who had survived the crash.  
Slowly, the group approached a fracture in the hull of the ship, then John and Jack silently instructed the others to wait for them for a second while they checked the inside.  
A few moments later, the Spartan and the skeleton beckoned the others to follow them, as they had found just an empty hallway.  
\- Stay alert and stay close, if you see any weapons, don't hesitate to take them. - John said as the kids regrouped.  
With that said, the seven kids entered the ship, trying to find a way to the hangar.  
As they walked, they began to notice several stains of Covenant blood on the walls, the ground and even the roof, as well as rows and rows of corpses, burn marks on the walls and large holes in them, which made them feel rather nervous, as none of them knew anything that could cause such destruction on a Covenant ship.  
\- This is quite strange. - John said. - What happened here?  
\- I don't know, but from what I see, one creature did this. - Jack said. - All the holes in the walls are about the same size and all the aliens on this ship were going in the same direction.  
\- And clearly, those who didn't have their heads blown to smithereens with energy weapons that we've never seen, were beaten to the ground with alarming ease. - Sam said.  
\- Maybe there's a metahuman on the ship. - Kelly said.  
\- Maybe, but from what I see, the metahuman is quite scared, so we'd better stay alert, he or she could attack us. - Linda said.  
The group nodded and spread out a little to take some of the guns that were scattered on the ground, but Sally simply stared at the destruction around her.  
Before the ragdoll realized, the skeleton had picked up a plasma pistol from the floor and put it in her hands, taking her aback.  
\- B-but I don't know how to use this... - Sally said.  
\- I'll show you. - Kelly said as she took the gun. - Since you are very new, use it this way, it'll help you withstand the recoil without problems, although the Covenant guns have almost no recoil. Another thing, this circle is the temperature gauge, if you shoot too continuously, it'll overheat and you'll have to wait for it to cool off.  
Kelly then gave the gun back to Sally and the ragdoll grabbed it the way Kelly had shown her.  
\- Like this? - Sally asked.  
\- Yes, however, as long as we're not under attack, I suggest you take your finger off the trigger and lower the weapon, but hold the position and don't leave your arms so stiff. - Kelly said as she took her plasma rifle again.  
\- Okay...  
\- Excellent, now, retake your positions and let's move. - Fred said.  
The group followed Fred's instruction and quickly continued their search for the ship's hangar.  
After going through every aisle that they ran into, having to cut some doors and finding traces of human blood, the youngsters had finally arrived at the hangar, and to their fortune, there was a still perfectly functional dropship.  
\- Great, now we just have to get up there and we can take that ship so we don't have to keep walking. - Fred said.  
\- Better yet, we could load it with more guns. - Sam said.  
\- We could even take the tank and the Ghosts over there. - Kelly said.  
\- It would be ideal, but we shouldn't draw so much attention, so we will have to leave them here. - John said. - Linda, Fred, Kelly, go for the Ghosts and use them to keep us covered. The rest, follow me and keep picking up all the guns you find.  
Everyone nodded again and the group split into the teams John had ordered. However, when Kelly, Linda, and Fred ignited the Ghosts, they heard a loud clank on one of the doors on the opposite side of the hangar. Immediately, they all got under cover and waited to see what was happening.  
A few seconds later, the door that had been struck was blown to pieces and an imposing figure with a heavy and sturdy purple armor, with a bright light on its chest came out of the corridor, carrying on his shoulder what appeared to be a very badly injured human.  
At that moment, the youngsters pointed their weapons at him and Jack said:  
\- Who or what the hell are you?!  
The armor turned to Jack and began to stare at each of the children, then, slowly and carefully, it lowered the man it was carrying, lifted its hands and raised its mask, causing everyone to utter a loud gasp, as inside the armor, there was a boy with black hair, who seemed to be around thirteen years old, who had a trickle of blood that ran over his left eye and looked extremely exhausted.  
\- Please... help them... - The boy in the armor pleaded.  
With that said, the armor fell to a side with a loud rumble, causing the seven youngsters to run to succor the child inside the armor.  
When they reached him, they noticed that he had fainted, and while Linda, Fred, Kelly and Sam were trying to find a way to open the armor to take it off its wearer, John, Jack and Sally checked the vital signs of the man, the child had been carrying.  
However, John could only sigh deeply as he felt none.  
\- He's dead. - John said.  
\- The kid inside this thing isn't, help us get him out of it. - Sam said as he tried to break one of the armor joints.  
\- Sally and I will get him out of the armor, you guys go load the ship. - Jack ordered as he ignited his sword.  
\- Wait, why did he say "help them" in plural? - Sam asked.  
\- There must be more humans on the ship. - Linda said. - We have to find them.  
\- I second that. - Kelly said. - Linda, follow me, you guys get ready to leave.  
\- Kelly, Linda, no! - John tried to say, but the Spartans had already run. - Dammit... I hope they don't get killed...  
\- So do I. But you have to trust them. - Jack said as he began to cut the unconscious child's armor. - They'll be fine.  
John simply sighed at Jack's words.  
\- Fred, stay here and cover Jack and Sally. Sam, you come with me. - John said.  
Sam and Fred nodded, then they took their guns and Sam followed John.

* * *

 _(Meanwhile)_

* * *

Kelly and Linda were running down the aisles of the ship, trying to find the prisoners' cells, guiding themselves by the burn marks and drops of human blood on the floor.  
As they kept running, Linda suddenly stopped in front of a room, taking Kelly aback, who was confused by the actions of her fellow Spartan.  
\- Linda, what are you doing?! - Kelly asked. - We have something important to do!  
\- Why are those sticks suspended here? - Linda wondered aloud as she entered the room.  
In that moment, Kelly sighed in exasperation and ran to the room where Linda was, then she was a little surprised as she saw her teammate looking closely at four sticks and a cane with a weird golden hook floating in front of the wall at the back of the room.  
\- Why did they leave these things here? What's so special about them? - Kelly said.  
\- I don't know, but if they think they're special, we should take them. - Linda said while she grabbed the sticks and the cane. - Anyway, we should go.  
Kelly nodded and immediately the two Spartans ran out again.  
Minutes later, the Spartans entered another room of the ship, which had several cells with damaged containment fields and what seemed to be several pieces of construction equipment.  
\- This place must be where that armor was built. - Kelly said.  
\- Who's there? - Asked a voice inside the room.  
\- Easy, we're humans. - Linda said, but without lowering her weapon.  
Slowly, from one of the cells, a gray-haired head appeared, then it disappeared shortly after taking a glance at them. Linda and Kelly lowered their weapons and walked to the cell where they had seen the head, finding four human children, a young anthropomorphic fox and an anthropomorphic raccoon, all of them around two adults, a human with black hair and glasses and another anthropomorphic raccoon, who looked almost as badly wounded as the one the boy in the armor had been carrying.  
Kelly and Linda quickly approached the adults to check their vital signs, leaving their weapons, the cane, and the sticks on the floor. A few seconds later, they sighed in relief, finding that they were alright.  
\- They will live, but need immediate medical attention. - Linda said.  
\- My cane! - The young raccoon snapped all of a sudden.  
With that said, the little raccoon moved barely noticeably to the Spartans' trained eyes to grab the cane along with the sticks on the ground, and immediately returned to where he was.  
To say that the child's speed surprised the Spartans was an understatement, as they could suppose that only Kelly was faster than the child.  
\- How did you do that? - Linda asked.  
\- These things are yours, right? - The raccoon asked the children beside him.  
\- Our wands... - Said a human girl with brown, tangled hair. - Where did you find them?  
\- Wands? - Linda said in confusion.  
\- Jack mentioned that there were wizards on Earth. - Kelly whispered to her Spartan teammate.  
\- Right, I remember that... - Linda sighed. - Where we found them is not relevant, the important thing is to leave this place immediately.  
\- We will carry the wounded, you just follow us, we'll get them out of here. - Kelly said.  
The children simply nodded as Kelly and Linda carefully picked up the men on the floor.

* * *

 _(Few minutes later)_

* * *

John and Sam had managed to make the Phantom in the hangar work, and now they, Sally and Jack were putting both the man's corpse, the boy who had been carrying him and the remains of his armor, because they couldn't leave a piece of technology so dangerous in the hands of the Covenant.  
When Sam finished putting the remains of the armor inside the Phantom, he sighed deeply and looked out of the dropship.  
\- Now, all we need to do is wait for Kelly and Linda to come back. - Sam said.  
\- Well, they better hurry up, who knows how much longer we have before the Covenant finds us. - Jack said.  
\- Can any of you guys give us a hand? - Shouted a female voice from outside the ship.  
Sam and Fred hurried out of the ship and gasped, causing Sally, Jack and John to see what had surprised the Spartans. And immediately they let out another gasp as Kelly and Linda were guiding a group of children and carrying two adults in their arms.  
Sam and Fred took the badly wounded men and carried them into the Phantom while the others saw the prisoners.  
\- The Covenant is even eviler than I thought. - Jack said. - Capturing children... they're despicable...  
\- We'll have time for you to show them how much you despise them when we launch the attack on those alien bastards, Jack, hold no doubt about it. - Linda said. - For now, follow us, we're leaving this place.  
The children simply followed the Spartans and the undead into the Phantom, where Sam and Fred made sure the adults and the boy of the armor were secured to stretchers that they had improvised and wouldn't get any more hurt during the flight. Then John and Sam walked into the cockpit while Sally, Linda, Jack, Fred and Kelly told the children to sit down as the ship took off.  
Moments later, the Covenant dropship ignited its engines and shook as it took off. Immediately after, Sam and John piloted the ship outside the hangar and resumed their way towards Las Vegas, hoping to find help there.  
What they didn't know was that the Covenant had already reached the city.

* * *

 _(Later)_

* * *

The youngsters who had participated in the Battle of Halloween Town and the prisoners they had rescued from the Covenant ship were stunned.  
After landing inside what used to be a parking lot, everyone glimpsed at a horrendous sight.  
The Covenant had apparently launched an attack on the city and destroyed it almost completely.  
The vast majority of the city's iconic casinos were now mere piles of debris, decorative signs and monuments were shattered, and the streets were filled with innocent citizens who had been killed by Covenant troops.  
After seeing this, the Spartans and Jack clenched their fists and teeth in anger, they were furious with the Covenant, but they could do nothing but wait to assemble a larger team, as to make an unplanned attack and guided by anger would only get them killed and Earth's only hope of survival would vanish.  
So, Sam, Kelly, Fred and the prisoners quickly unloaded the ship and set up a temporary shelter, while Sally and Jack went to look for supplies, and while Linda and John buried the man that the boy in the armor was carrying when they found him.  
Several minutes later, the Spartans and Sally were healing the adults and the boy in the armor, hoping they could survive until they could receive professional medical care.  
Once the wounded had been cured as well as the Spartans could, Kelly sighed deeply and looked through a broken window a moment before frowning.  
\- Those bastards. - Kelly grumbled.  
At that moment, they heard a strange noise, followed by several beeps, which caused Fred, Linda and Sally to turn to look at the children they had freed, noticing that one of them, a boy in a white shirt with a black line and green pants, and a strange watch on his arm, he was turning the face of the device on his wrist while his face reflected intense sadness and a desire for revenge.  
At that moment, Sally approached the boy and put a hand on his shoulder.  
\- What are you doing? - Asked the ragdoll.  
\- I... - Said the boy without taking his eyes off his watch. - I'm going... I'm gonna... everyone... Gwen... my grandfather...  
\- Boy...  
\- Ben... - Said a short-haired boy with glasses. - No, they're most probably safe, from what you told us, they're undoubtedly hidden.  
\- Besides, you still have the transformation nullifier that those things put on you. - Said the young anthropomorphic vixen.  
\- Maybe Tony can take it off when he wakes up. - The raccoon let out.  
\- Who is Tony and why do you think he can remove a piece of Covenant technology? - Jack asked suddenly.  
\- The boy who built a giant purple armor. Surely you know him, his name is Tony Stark.  
At that moment, the Spartans were left with their mouths open, but Jack looked with confusion at the raccoon.  
\- Tony who? - Jack let out.  
\- Tony Stark, son of the famed tech genius and owner of the Stark Industries, Howard Stark. - John said. - Are you serious?  
\- Since he built an armor when those things ordered him to build a machine to detect wizards, places and pieces of extraterrestrial technology, I'd say yes. - Said a redheaded boy with freckles on the face.  
\- Awesome, maybe he can help us in the attack we plan to launch against the Covenant. - Jack said.  
\- Are you planning to attack those aliens? - Asked the boy named Ben.  
\- We have to do it, basically, we seven are the only ones that can face them, for now. - Linda said.  
\- Jarvis! - Tony yelled suddenly.  
\- Excellent, you've back up. - Linda said.  
Tony tried to get up, but he felt too much pain to do so, and Kelly moved next to him and pushed him back to his makeshift bed.  
\- Relax, you must rest. - Kelly said.  
\- Jarvis... where's Jarvis? - The boy stammered.  
\- Who is Jarvis? - Jack whispered to one of the children.  
\- His steward, the old man in his arms. - Whispered the raccoon.  
The youngsters fell into a dead silence, thinking what to say.  
Suddenly, Kelly sighed and put her hand on Tony's shoulder.  
\- Your friend Jarvis was already dead when we found you. Kelly sighed. - I'm sorry.  
Tony showed an expression of pain at that moment as some tears formed in his eyes.  
\- No... No! - Tony shouted as he hit the bed.  
\- You did what you could, boy. - Kelly said. - You did much more than anyone of your age could have done.  
\- I should have done more! I could have done more!  
\- Boy... Tony, it was not possible. - John said.  
\- Then I'll make them pay! I'll build a better suit! One that can turn their ships to ashes!  
\- A mechanical suit can't a whole a whole Covenant armada. - Fred said.  
\- Maybe not, but maybe with your help, we can launch a successful attack and break the siege that those aliens bastards put around the Earth. - Jack said.  
\- For the last time, Jack, that's a bad idea, he's just a kids. - John snapped.  
\- I know they're kids, but it's not like we have many options, we're running out of time, I doubt we'll have more than three days before the Covenant fleet will kill us all.  
\- If you're gonna go against those things, I'll go too! - Ben snapped.  
\- I'll help too. - Snapped a boy with a lightning-like scar on his forehead.  
\- Harry and I are together in everything. - Said the red-haired boy.  
\- And without me, those two will die. - Said the girl with messy hair.  
\- These things hurt my father and I will avenge him! - Snapped the raccoon.  
\- And they hurt my grandparents to kidnap me, that will not stay that way! - Yelled the vixen.  
\- You think all this is a fucking game?! - John yelled. - You think facing the Covenant is easy?!  
\- We know perfectly how difficult it is to face those monsters! - Ben snapped. - They hurt my cousin and my grandfather when they took me, and then they tortured me to try to take away the Omnitrix!  
\- And they tortured me and Jarvis so I could make them a radar! I was very lucky that they were foolish enough to believe me when I told them I would! - Tony snapped.  
\- Stop! - Jack shouted. - John, we all know very well what they are capable of and I think if they want to fight, it's because they can do it.  
\- Are you insane?! - The Spartan leader said. - They're just kids!  
\- Yes, just kids among who just happen to be three wizards, a raccoon who can move almost as fast as Kelly and a boy who built a suit of armor strong enough to destroy a Covenant ship and kill all its crew. - Linda let out. - I'm sorry, Chief, but I'm with Jack, I think they can help us.  
\- Linda, this is crazy, we face the Covenant because we're Spartans, but even with the skills you said, they're kids. - Sam said.  
\- Jack already said it, we don't have many options, do we? - Kelly said.  
\- It's a total madness, something like that just can not happen. - John said.  
\- If you have a better idea that doesn't involve wasting too much time and give us total security to break the siege, I would love to hear it. - Jack said.  
John was silent and stared at the floor, trying to think of something. Then he sighed and shook his head.  
\- There's your idea of looking for the mutants and wizards. - John blurted out.  
\- Yes, but the problem with that is that it would take too much time and energy, to even find them, they hide very well. - Jack said. - We have a team right here, all we need is a little more people.  
\- And I know just where to find more people. - Tony said. - In New York I have several friends and I know several people who can do incredible things, and I'm completely sure that they're safe, I was talking to Reed before all this happened.  
\- I know some guys in Chihuahua, California and Arizona who can help us. - Said the young vixen.  
\- I have an idea of where my grandfather and my cousin could be. - Ben let out.  
\- There are four guys in Paris, I don't get along with two of them, but none will allow those things to conquer the world. - Said the raccoon.  
\- And I myself have a group of friends who will be very helpful. - Jack said with a smile.  
\- I still think this is crazy. - John blurted out.  
\- Maybe it is, but we have no choice.  
John sighed heavily and looked at each of the youngsters in front of him. From his Spartans to the prisoners they had rescued, each and every one of them were nothing more than children, but at the same time, none was such. A tech genius who had gone far beyond any invention the Covenant and the UNSC had made, two anthros that apparently were not ordinary children, a child with a watch that could apparently transform him into something, five teenage super soldiers, three wizards, a skeleton swordsman and an incredibly brave ragdoll.  
He had to admit, they were all better soldier material than many of the candidates who entered the UNSC academies.  
And while he continued to debate his decision internally, Kelly approached him and touched his shoulder with a rather stern expression.  
\- What are your orders, Chief? - Kelly asked.  
\- If we could get in touch with Gadget and Max, we'd probably know if they stayed in their places or if the Covenant found them. - The vixen said before John could even utter a word.  
\- Carmelita, I'm Tony Stark, if you know the frequencies, I can make a communicator with some of the junk here. - Tony said.  
\- It is arranged, you do that and in the meantime, the rest will prepare the Phantom to leave. - Jack said.  
\- It's madness. - Sam said.  
\- Well, madness is better than no idea, Sam, now if you're not gonna help, step aside.  
Sam and Jack glared at each other, yet John quickly separated them.  
\- Enough, Spartan. - John said. - Do as you're told.  
\- But... - Sam said.  
\- You heard me, Sam. Jack and the others are right, we must move fast. - John said as he turned to see the rest of his team. - Carmelita, Stark, Fred, you and I will get the materials for the communicator. Kelly, Linda, Sam, you help Jack and the others to load the Phantom, but let the wounded until we return to make sure they won't get hurt any more.  
\- Yes, sir. - Kelly and Linda said as they saluted.  
\- Yes, sir. - Sam and Fred said reluctantly.  
They all stood up and quickly began their respective tasks, hoping to be able to finish before the Covenant found them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 5.- Desperate measures.**

* * *

 _(November 4, 1990 [Local calendar] - 1506 Hours [Local time] - Mission clock of Blue Team, Jack Skellington, Sally Finkelstein, Anthony Stark, Sly Cooper, Carmelita Fox, Benjamin Tennyson, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger - Location: Unknown point over the Copper Canyon, Chihuahua, United Mexican States, surface of the Earth, solar system)_

* * *

\- N-Tek Base, Phantom here, we're approaching the rendezvous point in a stolen Covenant ship decorated with green stripes at the sides, again we are inside an enemy ship decorated with green stripes. - Carmelita said by the communicator that Tony had constructed. - We request immediate medical attention, we have severely injured passengers aboard, over.  
\- Copy, Phantom, the airstrip is ready to receive you, we will prepare the medical facilities immediately, over and out. - answered a childish voice with a Mexican accent.  
\- Excellent, it seems the Covenant hasn't been able to get rid of N-Tek yet, and it's lucky that Gadget and his team are already with them. - Carmelita said.  
\- We are too lucky, I hope this isn't a bad omen for the future. - Jack let out.  
\- In my experience, luck doesn't exist. - John said. - We provoke our victories or our defeats with our actions.  
\- Maybe you're right, we'll have to stay alert either way.  
\- All right, Ben, the suppressor is out. - Tony said as he threw a square device to the scrap pile that was his armor. - Now we just have to find a way to recharge your little watch and we can prove if I'm the best tech genius and be able to laugh in Reed's face that I could not only bring an alien ship down by myself but also manipulate their technology without much difficulty.  
\- It's unbelievable that we have had any room in here, considering the size of your ego, Stark. - Laughed Sly.  
\- Stop it, Stark. - Snapped the red-haired boy. - This isn't the time to be arrogant, a bloody alien alliance is threatening to destroy the planet and we must stop them before they even have the chance.  
\- Calm down, Ron. - Said the girl with tangled hair. - Even if you're right this time, you shouldn't be angry about it.  
\- Anyway, I got a bad feeling about this, the one that got your transmission was another kid and if your N-Tek friends are just kids too, then we're going to have a lot of trouble launching an attack on the Covenant. - Fred said.  
\- They're kids, but even Kat, Berto, Brenda, Jane and Nathan, who are the normal humans in their group, are incredible. - Carmelita said.  
\- What do you mean, "normal" humans? I thought N-Tek didn't have any super soldiers or metahumans. - Tony said.  
\- Actually, they planned to create them, they believed that with an infusion of nanoprobes and a charge of transphasic energy, could recreate Project Rebirth. - Explained Carmelita. - But it only worked once and the subject is much stronger and agiler than Cap, even if he is barely 10 years old.  
\- I don't think he's stronger than Cal. - Linda said.  
\- The bastard can lift two tons with almost no effort, and I've seen him do it. - Sly said.  
\- How?  
\- My friend Bentley is extremely smart, I dare say that Bentley is as clever as Stark but with a much smaller ego, in addition, with my dad's help, hacking N-Tek's network was a piece of cake.  
\- I'm so gonna lock you up when all this is over, Ringtail. - Carmelita huffed.  
\- We'll have time for you to threaten each other later, prepare for the descent. - Kelly informed.  
Minutes later, the stolen Phantom landed on a hidden platform inside an artificial cavern in the Copper Canyon, and as soon as the boys left the ship, a bunch of doctors entered the Phantom to take the wounded to the farthest end the cavern, where there was a door.  
Meanwhile, a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. and N-Tek agents, and even some UNSC marines approached the Phantom's crew.  
\- Follow us, Director Fury and Commander Ferrus want to see you. - Said one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.  
\- First, we want to talk to Max Steel and Inspector Gadget. - Carmelita said.  
\- They're with Director Fury and Commander Ferrus, now move.  
The children remained silent and just followed the agents and marines, while a doubt was sown in the minds of the children. What did Nick Fury want to see them for?  
A few minutes later, after passing through several corridors and rooms at the N-Tek base, finally the group of agents and Marines stopped in front of a gate and formed two rows, letting the children walk between them while the door opened.  
A few moments later, the small group was in front of an African American man with a patch over his left eye and wearing a uniform of S.H.I.E.L.D. but with a black, leather trenchcoat on, and a slightly younger-looking man with tanned skin, a badly shaved beard and a stern expression, who wore an N-Tek uniform.  
\- Carmelita! - A childlike voice behind them said.  
Suddenly, Carmelita was embraced by a black-haired boy wearing a gray trenchcoat and a hat of the same color, while another brown-haired boy in an N-Tek uniform and a metal breastplate was patting the girl on the shoulder.  
\- We feared the worst, knowing what happened in Paris... well, we thought we'd never see you again. - Said the boy with brown hair.  
\- Hey, those things can't take on future Inspector Carmelita Fox. - Carmelita said with a smile, before it turned into a worried look. - I also thought I would never see you again, guys...  
\- Stop this, we have more urgent problems to attend. - Said the man with the eyepatch.  
\- Like for example figure out how is it that a group of children managed to steal a Covenant ship and made their way here. - Said the man in the N-Tek uniform.  
\- First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin Prince, it's an honor. - Jack said as he stepped forward and bowed slightly. - With that said, I didn't like the tone you're using, mortals.  
\- How dare you speak to me like that? - The man with the patch snapped.  
\- I dare because I have much more knowledge of the situation than you two do, Director Fury.  
\- You're a kid and you know nothing.  
\- I know that the Covenant is a rather religious organization and they will stop at nothing until they see the humans get extinct. I also know that they are looking for the Infinity Gems for some reason that I can't understand, because according to John, their focus are Forerunner artifacts.  
\- What the hell are the infinity gems? - They all asked.  
\- I already said too much. - Jack sighed. - Anyway, if you want us to tell you everything you want to know, I suggest you use a kinder voice tone.  
\- Well, then tell us how it was that they did everything we asked, please. - Said the man with tan skin.  
\- That's better. - Jack smiled. - It all started in Halloween Town, which is where me and Sally come from, and where my father is king. The Covenant went there in an attempt to take my father's Tesseract, that's when I met John and his team. We five prevented one of those things from infiltrating into my town and we almost captured it, but it escaped from us and he called reinforcements, which was informed to the UNSC by my dear friend, Sally. The UNSC sent support and there was a battle in which we participated, getting the victory.  
\- Then we tried to capture the Sangheili that had previously escaped from us, but once again it eluded us and destroyed some sort of portal that led directly to Jack's town. - John remarked. - Then we lost consciousness and until recently we learned that the battle in Halloween Town happened almost four days ago.  
\- Days in which the Covenant captured me and my steward, in an effort to force me to build a radar to detect superhumans. - Tony said. - And we were very lucky that they really thought I was gonna do it.  
\- The day after Tony's capture, my father, Carmelita and I were captured in Paris. - Sly said. - Then they tortured us, putting special emphasis on my father, as they were trying to study the anthros, because there are none of our kind in other human colonies.  
\- They caught me two days ago, they wanted to take away the... - Ben said before Tony nudged him in the ribs.  
\- Ron and I were captured yesterday, along with Harry's father. - Hermione said. - They also studied us with torture.  
\- And around ten o'clock of last night, I finished a battle suit that I had designed some months ago, knocked down the cruiser on which we were held prisoner, and Jack, John and their team got us out of there in a Phantom they stole from the ship I brought down. - Tony said.  
\- It's a crude summary of what happened to us, but it's all that's important, I suppose. - Jack said.  
\- Wait a sec, how is that possible? - Fury asked.  
\- I'm Tony Stark, Fury, I'm just that great. - Tony said.  
\- Well, then, from now on, whatever you used to confront the Covenant, belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D., we will take care of expelling them from the planet.  
\- With all due respect, sir, I doubt you can. - Fred said.  
\- It's true, the Covenant will destroy you without much trouble. - Tony snapped.  
\- We'll worry about that, from now on, the armor, the weapons and your Phantom are ours. - Said Ferrus.  
\- Fine, as you wish, but when the Covenant cuts through your forces, I will be there to say "Told ya." - Jack said. - Guys, follow me, we have to go to New York.  
\- You can't get to New York, it's literally out of reach without your ship.  
\- That's what you think, mortals, but your technology isn't always the best. - Jack said with a smile. - Guys, are you coming or what?  
Sly, Ben, Harry, Ron and Tony didn't hesitate for a second, so they followed the Pumpkin Prince. Hermione, Carmelita, the boy in the N-Tek uniform and the boy with the hat hesitated for a moment, then they shrugged and joined Jack's group. On the other hand, the Spartans didn't know what to do.  
On one hand, they were obliged to follow the orders of the highest-ranking officer, which in this case was Nick Fury, and on the other, they knew that Jack and the others would need their skills for the plan they had to break the siege, so the Spartans turned to see their Squad Leader, who sighed heavily when he noticed that his teammates were waiting for some indication as to which route they should take.  
John closed his eyes and took a step forward, then looked at Nick Fury straight in the eye, saluted him and then joined Jack's group, being quickly mimicked by Kelly, Linda, Sam and Fred.  
\- Where do you think you're going? You're obligated to... - Fury said.  
\- Obligated? Listen to your words, Director, and ask yourself this question, will they rather be obligated to follow someone or follow someone for their own conviction? - Jack said. - Anyway, this conversation is over, keep the Phantom if you want but believe me, you're not gonna do much against the Covenant, I have fought them myself and they are simply too much for you to overcome, especially considering that they outnumber and outmatch you.  
With that said, the children left the room and began to whisper among them, introducing themselves to each other.  
Meanwhile, John walked over to Jack and looked at him sideways, which made the skeleton sigh.  
\- You joined us out of pity, didn't you? - Jack said.  
\- No, but I certainly believe that your best chance not only to survive but to win the battle is with us by your side. - John blurted out. - Still, I still think it's crazy. You survived the battle of the town because you're a great swordsman, you're probably older than any human who has ever lived, even though they label you as a kid; Sam, Kelly, Linda, Fred and I survived because they literally trained us for this, but they... I very much doubt they'll make it.  
\- We can hear you, you know? - Said the boy in N-Tek uniform. - Look, I know I'm just ten years old and I don't look like the big deal, but I'm incredibly strong and I'm trained in combat by N-Tek, besides that Kat and Berto always cover my back and I have several tricks under and up my sleeves.  
\- And I'm a cyborg. - The boy with the hat said. - 20% human, 80% metal.  
\- 68.57% metal, Gadget. Nate, Brenda, me and the others have been telling you that for a long time. - Carmelita snapped.  
\- Anyway, since everyone is listening, go get Gadget and Max's friends, we'll meet you at the airstrip to leave. - Jack said.  
\- We won't get far without the Phantom. - Sam let out.  
\- As I told Fury, you mortals believe your technology is the best.  
\- What other tricks do you keep up your sleeve? - Sly asked.  
\- Quite a lot more, maybe you'll see some during the attack on the Covenant. Tony, do you mind if I destroy the remains of your armor?  
\- I'm not a nostalgic guy, and I'm not going to let S.H.I.E.L.D. copy my designs, I and only I am and I will be Iron Man. - Tony snapped. - So yes, turn them to ashes if you need to.  
\- They're going to send us to prison for insubordination and destruction of property of S.H.I.E.L.D... - Sam let out.  
\- I will not let that happen, besides, the armor is owned by Tony, not Fury, and I don't care what he says, Fury is nobody to claim someone else's property.  
\- He's the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., so technically, he can. - Carmelita let out.  
\- Well, I don't care, in my world, the creator, buyer or heir is the sole owner of an object, and anyone who claims ownership of that object without being any of them is a thief. - Jack said while he and Sally were walking.  
\- If the Covenant doesn't kill us, we'll spend the rest of our lives in the Vault. - Gadget sighed.  
\- Meh, there are worse things, they could force us to join S.H.I.E.L.D., that would be really bad. - Tony let out. - Anyway, time to look for your friends, Bonehead won't wanna wait long.  
The children let out a sigh, then Max and Gadget led the group into a room where a group of six children, three boys and three girls, were talking about a machine in a small room at the back of the room. Or at least almost all of them, since two of the girls and one of the boys seemed quite annoyed by the scientific talk.  
\- So your friend Max's powers are based on transphasic energy? - Asked one of the boys, a boy with reddish-brown hair and who wore a lab coat. - That is amazing! Brenda, we've gotta tell dad about this! We could improve Gadget with that!  
\- Yeah... I think we shouldn't. - One of the girls who had reddish-brown hair, snapped. - N-Tek patented transphasic energy, if we try to add it to Gadget, Jefferson Smith will sue us.  
\- Ugh, you three are complete nerds! - Said one of the girls, who was a redhead. - And I thought there was nothing more boring than listening to Berto talk about science and lecture Max...  
\- I hate to admit it, but being excluded from your conversation due to my lack of knowledge about the things you talk about, is starting to annoy me. - Said a girl with blond hair.  
\- And I don't understand anything of what they say. - Said a young anthropomorphic dog with blue eyes and white fur.  
\- Well, if you want to do something more interesting, I suggest you take your belongings and equipment. - Max said. - Apparently, we're leaving.  
\- Are you crazy? We're not going anywhere with those things out there! - Said a guy who wore glasses.  
\- Easy, we have everything under control... Or at least our fearless leader has everything controlled. - Sly said.  
\- Yeah, so move. - Tony snapped.  
\- I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of Berto, his nerdy friends and their nerd talks. - Said the redheaded girl as she and the blonde went to the back of the room. - Come on, Jane.  
\- Max, in the remote case we could leave, we would need a transphasic generator, because your nanoprobes need to be recharged regularly, especially taking into account that you will most likely have to go Turbo. - Said the guy with glasses.  
\- I know that, flaco, but don't worry, we got that covered. - Max said.  
\- And by that he means that I have the resources to build whatever you need, but you should hurry, if Fury and his men get us, we'll have to shoot our way out of this place. - Tony said.  
\- What the hell did you do now, Stark? - Snapped the girl with auburn hair.  
\- There'll be time to blame Tony later, move, Brenda. - Jane said.  
\- But, we can't, dad will get mad at me and Brenda if we go. - Said the boy with light brown hair.  
\- Nathan, as Tony said, if Fury or Ferrus and his men stop us, we'll have to shoot them and that would not only make us fugitives from S.H.I.E.L.D., but it would also endanger our families, for S.H.I.E.L.D. would probably use them to lure us into a trap. - Carmelita snapped.  
\- Isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. supposed to be the good guys? - Hermione asked.  
\- It usually is, but they use... let's say unorthodox and unethical methods to achieve their goals.  
\- That's an understatement... - Sly snapped.  
\- Anyway, we're ready. - Berto said as he threw a backpack over his shoulder.  
In that second, the alarms of the complex began to ring and the lights turned red.  
\- We'll have to shoot our way out of here... - Carmelita sighed. - Berto, can you guide us to the airstrip by an alternate route?  
\- He can't, but I do. - Said the redheaded girl as she opened an air vent with a kick. - Get in quick.  
\- I have a bad feeling about this. - Ron let out as the children entered the ventilation system.  
\- The last one of you close the air vent, then hurry up and don't fall behind or you'll get lost.  
The children rushed into the ventilation system of the N-Tek base, and Sly, being the last one to enter, carefully closed the vent and disappeared along with the others, just before a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents entered the room.

* * *

 _(In the meantime)_

* * *

Jack and Sally were running through the corridors of the N-Tek base, bumping into several soldiers and agents looking at them with confusion, since they had never seen anything like those two children.  
But neither the skeleton nor the ragdoll seemed interested in the attention they drew toward themselves, they both seemed too busy with the task they had.  
On the one hand, Sally wandered mentally and was worried about Jack's decision to destroy everything Fury had claimed as S.H.I.E.L.D property, as she believed they could get seriously hurt or worse; while the young Pumpkin Prince was feeling quite excited and anxious, he was not afraid of Fury or anyone, nor was he gonna let him or his men hurt his new friends. And in case they managed to hurt them, he would make them repent their decision.  
\- Come on, Sally, the airstrip is around here. - Jack said as he looked at his best friend.  
\- Jack, I don't think this is such a good idea, Fury doesn't seem like the type of guy one should mess with. - Sally said with a hint of fear in her tone.  
\- Maybe so, but still he's a human, a very arrogant one, by the way. That doesn't frighten me in the least, and under no circumstances will I allow him to intimidate or hurt our friends.  
\- And even if we miraculously managed to escape from this base after destroying Tony's armor, how do you think a group of children could launch an attack on the Covenant? You saw what they did to the third most feared army in the universe, we're nothing compared to your father's army.  
\- I've already thought about it, Sally, and I think we can make our team bigger, we just have to go to the right places and speak to the right people. - Jack said with a smile. - Besides, I will summon help from the Pact of the Five Kingdoms.  
\- I doubt that Celestia will help you with this, Jack, she hates you and hates humans...  
\- Don't mention that cocky pony princess... - The skeleton grunted. - And true, but Diana, Thor and Moon are more than enough.  
\- Odin, Hippolyta and Astra will never let you take their children to defend the humans.  
\- The Pact is between them and me, not between our parents.  
\- They don't even know you're allies, do they?  
\- Indeed. - The skeleton chuckled.  
As she listened to the attitude of her friend and platonic love, Sally couldn't help but sigh at Jack's lack of concern for such a delicate situation.  
\- Jack, I love you very much but you are extremely careless and daring, that could cause a war. - Sally said - Not if they want to have a chance against the Covenant, besides, it wasn't my idea not to say anything about the Pact, that was Moon's. - The Pumpkin Prince excused himself.  
\- In front of all kingdoms, Jack, you are the problematic prince, or did you already forgot the Christmas incident?  
\- Sandy Claws already forgave me for that, I'm even on the Nice list, and Moon and Thor are also problematic heirs. Besides, it's my father's fault, not mine.  
\- You were the one who almost ruined Christmas...  
\- Sally, I'm not in the mood to argue with you about matters you have no idea of, so please, just follow me and don't stay behind, I don't want you to get lost.  
Sally sighed and nodded, then quickened her pace to catch up with her friend.  
A few moments later, the two undead arrived at the runway, where a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and UNSC Marines, which were apparently lead by a dark-skinned woman with dark brown hair, guarded the few vehicles and fighters they had at their disposal, with a special emphasis on the Phantom that Jack and the others had brought.  
And as soon as the agents saw them, the dark-skinned woman slowed them down.  
\- What do you want here? As I understand, you are not authorized to be on this airstrip. - The woman said in a severe tone.  
\- I know we're not, but what's the difference? - Jack said nonchalantly. - We came here to take back what belongs to us.  
\- You are children and you have no jurisdiction to say that something belongs to you or not.  
\- Fury also has no jurisdiction to claim possession of something that's not his, I don't care if he is a world leader or something like that, in my world, someone like that is called a thief.  
\- Agents, arrest these children and take them to the detention area.  
\- I assumed that I would have to solve this in an uncivilized way, but remain calm, nobody will die, although you'll be quite hurt. - Jack said while he looked for something inside his torso.  
In that second, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. shot at Jack, who managed to pull out a green lightsaber with which he intercepted all the projectiles that the agents had fired, then modified the intensity of the blade's power and pounced on the leader of the agents to stab her in the abdomen with the blade of his lightsaber, leaving her unconscious and with just a burn mark on her uniform and the part where the blade had pierced her, but without any mortal wounds. Then, the Pumpkin Prince ran between the lines of agents and repeated the process with each and every one of them, dodging the shots of the agents without much trouble.  
However, to his dismay, as soon as the agents were down, the young prince turned to see his friend with a proud smile at his actions, which died as soon as he saw that Sally was on the ground, holding her right leg close to her chest, while she grimaced and moaned in pain.  
In less than a blink, Jack had dropped his lightsaber and had rushed to his friend's aid, completely horrified at the scene.  
\- I'm fine, Jack... or I'll be if I find a way to patch that hole. - Sally moaned as she showed her bullet wound to her friend.  
\- Please, forgive me, Sally! I didn't think that...! Argh! Why am I such an idiot?! - Jack reprimanded himself. - It should've been me and not you!  
\- You're not an idiot... just a little careless... and I'll be fine...  
Despite the pain she felt, the ragdoll managed to force a sincere smile to her mortified friend, then flicked him on the forehead and chuckled.  
\- Bonehead, don't you ever call yourself an idiot. - Sally said. - Go destroy Stark's armor, I'll just hinder you. Meanwhile, I'll find a way to get up and get out of here.  
Reluctantly, Jack nodded and drew his lightsaber to his hand with the Force, then walked swiftly toward the Phantom and turned his gaze to the scrap pile that was now the armor Tony had used to shoot down a Covenant ship by himself. At that moment, Jack frowned and ignited his lightsaber to return the intensity of its blade back to normal, then raised his hand in the direction of the remains of the armor and began to concentrate.  
After some effort, the pile of scrap began to be crushed by an invisible force, which reduced it to an irregular ball of metal. As soon as Jack finished compacting the remains of the armor, he looked at it and lunged against her, cutting it in half with his lightsaber, repeating the process until there was nothing left but a pile of scorched metal pieces.  
After that, Jack smiled in compliance with his work and ran out of the Covenant dropship, finding Sally filling the hole in her leg with scraps of cloth that the ragdoll had ripped from the uniforms of the unconscious agents and marines.  
\- This should be enough until I find something better. - Sally said as she tried to get up.  
\- Let me help you. - Jack said while he offered her a hand.  
Sally looked to a side with a shy smile as a small blush showed on her cheeks, at the same time that she grabbed her best friend's hand.  
\- Well, now we just have to wait for the others... - Jack said as he helped Sally to get up.  
\- Red alert, we have hostiles on the airstrip! - The leader's voice said with a groan. - The skeleton is hostile, repeat, the skeleton is hostile!  
Upon hearing the woman, Jack growled and ignited his lightsaber again, then turned and walked towards the woman to lower the blade of his sword against her, but instead of killing her or doing any damage to her, he simply destroyed the communicator she had in her hand.  
\- I am not hostile, I simply came to do a favor to a friend. You attacked me, I just defended myself. - The Prince snapped as he turned off his lightsaber. - You're lucky I didn't kill any of you for hurting Sally.  
\- Jack, please, that's enough. - Sally said.  
\- All right...  
Jack sighed and tucked his lightsaber inside his torso, while a vent grid fell from the ceiling, followed by the group of children, one by one.  
\- Well, you do know how to be stealthy. - Tony said sarcastically.  
\- S.H.I.E.L.D. already had these agents here, I couldn't do anything else. - Jack excused himself.  
\- Whatever, just get on board and let's go. - John ordered.  
\- You won't go... - The brunette woman snapped as she tried to pull out her blaster.  
\- I would lower my weapon if it were you, Agent Hill. - Sam snapped as he, the other Spartans, Carmelita and Kitty aimed at the woman with their respective weapons. - It would be very bad, both for you and for us, to shoot you.  
After that, Sly took the opportunity to snatch the blaster from Hill's hand with his cane, then threw it as far as he could and ran towards the Phantom, along with the rest of the children.  
A few moments later, the hangar door exploded and several squadrons of S.H.I.E.L.D. and N-Tek agents came in droves, with their weapons ready to fire.  
But it was too late, the Phantom was already taking off and away from the base, while Nick Fury and Farron Ferrus entered the hangar, both having a look of few friends.  
\- Stupid kids... - Fury said as the Phantom came out of the hidden hangar.


End file.
